A Rising Flame
by DJ Dynamite
Summary: Taking place 20 years after The Incredibles, a young girl super must overcome her fear of her own powers in time to help save Metroville from total destruction.
1. How the Flame is Snuffed Out

**A Rising Flame**

_Authors Note: This is my first Incredibles fan-fic. Of course, The Incredibles are owned by Disney and Pixar (lucky people). Enjoy the story, and feel free to review! _

**Chapter 1**

There's an old saying that goes, no matter how hard you try, you can't escape fate. For me, that's all too true. No matter how hard I tried to escape mine, I knew that eventually I had to face it. I also knew that it would happen whether I was ready or not.

I guess that to tell this story, I have to tell you about myself first. My name is Jessica Wells, and I would be considered your very normal 14-year-old girl if not for one very important reason, but I'll get to that in a moment. I lived here in the city of Metroville for all of my life. I can definitely say that it isn't a boring place, as something always seems to be happening here. I can also say that it's basically the norm for living in Metroville, and for me it just doesn't impress me as much as it used to. My friends from out of town just couldn't understand why that is when they say that they would literally die to live here. I tell them that if they lived in Metroville as long as I have, it just isn't that exciting anymore.

Even that doesn't quite satisfy them. 'How could you be so bored living there when the city's brimming with superheroes?' they would say. I would correct them there and say that the city _was _brimming with superheroes. Back in the Golden Age, as everyone called that time, there was roughly an average of one super to every 50,000 residents. That might not seem like much, but since millions of people live in Metroville, that adds up a lot. You couldn't walk downtown and not see a super flying, driving, skating, or however they moved to get to a crime scene. They said that there was no safer city to live in than Metroville.

Then came the infamous lawsuit against Mr. Incredible by a guy that didn't want to be saved. With that, it seemed like everyone in the world wanted to file some kind of lawsuit against a super. Young or old, no super was spared. Some of the lawsuits were genuine, but most were fabricated, probably by people who just hated supers. The government was losing billions of dollars in the lawsuits. If that wasn't bad enough, a whole movement was started to ban all supers from ever using their powers again. Suddenly, the supers found themselves in a far more hostile place than even the lair of the most evil supervillian in the world, and all due to the public they swore to protect. A few were even killed. Finally in response to all that, the government enacted the Superhero Relocation Program. All active supers were forced to retire and relocate. Also, they would be given complete immunity from the lawsuits if they promised never to use their powers to fight crime again.

That would've been it, and the world would never have seen supers again. But fifteen years later, a guy by the name of Syndrome appeared. As a kid, he was known as Buddy Pine, or Incrediboy as he wanted to be called. He was the self-proclaimed number one fan of Mr. Incredible and the leader of his fan club. More than anything, however, he wanted to be Mr. Incredible's sidekick. He even created all these things such as rocket-powered boots to help him. I guess you could call him the ultimate uber-geek. Anyway, Mr. Incredible refused all of Buddy's offers, saying that he worked alone. Eventually, all those rejections drove poor Buddy off the deep end, and he grew up to come an evil, if not outright insane person who used his smarts to create virtually invincible robots in a plot to kill off all supers and become, in his own words, the greatest hero of all time.

What Syndrome didn't count on was a whole family of supers that were known as the Incredibles. It was, of course, Mr. Incredible, his wife Elastigirl, and their two kids who would be eventually known as Ultraviolet and Dash. Together they were able to stop him and in the end, he was killed. You know, in a way I felt somewhat sorry for him. I mean, he was once this super smart kid that invented all those gadgets for good use, and all he wanted was to be Mr. Incredible's sidekick. He obviously had a bright future ahead of him. If that type of rejection ever did that to me, then God help anyone in my way when I grew up.

With the Incredibles coming out into the light, a few more supers came back out of retirement, but there just weren't nearly as many supers as there were during the Golden Age. Sadly, Syndrome killed off all but a few, and many of those that survived were perfectly happy with their new lives and refused to return to fighting crime. Of course, the return of the supers had mixed reactions from the public. Some were ecstatic that the supers were back. Others were outraged, saying that they were violating the SRP Act and demanding that they be locked away for good. After a few years of arguments and counter-arguments from both sides, the courts finally dismissed the whole case. They then went a step further and said that from then on all supers would be immune to lawsuits. Like it or not, the supers were back.

That was twenty years ago. There are a few more supers out there, many of them new but some of the older ones are still around. Even today, they still feel the consequences of those actions years ago. They know that they now face a city vastly different than during the Golden Age, where you are both loved and hated by the public in equal numbers, where it seemed like you couldn't do anything even remotely good without infuriating someone. I can't tell you that I've experienced these things firsthand, but I can tell you that I know all about these things as well as all I've mentioned earlier, for one great reason.

I am a super.

Now that I've officially come out with it, you are probably bursting at the seams with questions. For starters, what's it like to be a super? Well, I could probably come up with a whole page of questions to describe my feelings, but I think that this one short sentence would say it best; it sucks. Why, you ask, when most of you would literally murder someone for the chance to become a super? It's something I'll get into later in detail, but I'll say that for me it's in reverse, that I would kill for the chance to be just a normal teen. I wasn't always like this, though. In fact, I thought that it was awesome to have special powers. For you to further understand I would have to explain my past.

For most of my life, no one knew that I was a super, not even me. My powers developed extremely late for a super. Before then, I was a normal but disgustingly cute little girl with long copper-red hair and huge ice-blue eyes and that everyone's grandparents wanted to hug and kiss. I was a bit tomboyish, but I still did some things a young girl would do at that age, mainly playing with dolls. I admit though that I sometimes played superhero with them. What kid in Metroville didn't do things like that, though? We all grew up hearing about what great things the supers have done. At school during recess many of us pretended that we were supers. Of course, _everyone _wanted to be one of the Incredibles. _Everyone _wanted to be Mr. Incredible, Elastigirl, Dash, or Ultraviolet. Some though chose to be one of the other supers, like Frozone, Electricia, Prototron, Meteor-Mite, as well as others. Sometimes we made up our own super or came up with a combination of two. For me it was a cross between Electricia and Ultraviolet, mainly because I thought female supers were so cool. We even took our games out into the neighborhood streets. I guess you could say that we looked cute in our bike helmets, safety goggles, rubber gloves, cardboard chest plates, bed sheet capes, or whatever we wore to look like our favorite super. Many of us had dreams at night about saving the day. It seemed like all us kids wanted desperately to be a super, and at most times even myself.

The one day I got my wish, or my curse as I think back on it. It was during summer break and just a month after my tenth birthday. It was one of those nice, clear, and warm mornings that just begged for you to come outside. As both of my parents were still asleep and no other kid was outside yet, I was alone. I went out into our backyard and sat down on our swing set. Closing my eyes I started to swing. With my eyes closed it was easier to imagine myself as a super flying over the city. As I swung higher and faster, I imagined flying faster and higher as well. Then, at the height of my swing, I jumped off and landed on my feet, imagining that I had landed at my destination.

"Never fear," I said out loud. "Super Jess is here!"

Yes, yes, I know, I know, but I was ten then, so cut me some slack.

Anyway, I decided that my good deed for the day was to rescue a small kitty from a tree. The kitty was pretend, of course, but the tree was all too real. It was a tall tree in our backyard, one that I've climbed dozens of times before. Reaching for the first thick branch, I pulled myself up into the tree and started climbing up.

"With nerves of steel," I said to myself, "the grace of a cat, and the intelligence of an elephant, our hero Super Jess climbs toward a poor, helpless kitty cat stranded up in a tree. Will she make it? Only time will tell."

Ugh, I still can't believe I said stuff like that back then.

I was just reaching out to rescue the imaginary cat when it happened. I slipped off the branch! Reacting quickly I was able to grab onto another branch, but it was too small and couldn't hold my weight. It snapped and I started to fall. It all happened so fast that I didn't even have time to scream. I was only aware of the branches and leaves slapping against my body and the ground rushing up to meet me. I closed my eyes and waited for the impact.

And waited…

And waited…

And waited.

It took a few seconds for me to realize that I hadn't hit the ground. Or maybe I had and was so banged up that I couldn't feel anything. Was this what it was like to be paralyzed? Either way I was too afraid to open my eyes, scared of what I would see. I was also too scared to call out for help for the same reason. After a while I figured that I had to open my eyes and deal with what I would see. Slowly I opened my eyes and looked down at myself, and what I saw shocked me so much that I couldn't make any kind of noise even if I wanted to.

I was floating at least two feet off the ground! I wasn't snagged up on any branches or anything. I was just hovering there. And that wasn't even it. Surrounding my body was what I could only describe as a glowing aura of ghostly fire! It was like my whole body was on fire, but I wasn't burning up and neither were my clothes. It wasn't even warm at all. Whatever this aura was, it was definitely having an effect on my hair. It was floating around my face. It wasn't acting like it was caught in a breeze, but more like it would act as if I was underwater. It was just lazily moving about around my head.

My first reaction to all this was sheer panic. I actually thought that I had died in the fall, and that I was now a ghost. How else could I be floating above the ground and have this aura of fire surrounding my body. That question as well as a million others flashed through my head. How could I be dead at just ten years old? How would my parents and friends react? How was I ever going to deal with this? When would the bright light come for me and take me to heaven?

It took a while for me to calm down enough to realize that I wasn't dead. I came to that conclusion after really thinking about it. For starters, if I was dead and was a ghost, then how come I wasn't hovering over my own dead body? Second, if I had died, wouldn't I immediately have gone to heaven, or even hell for that matter? Finally, if I was a ghost, then how come I wasn't transparent and looked as solid as a living person?

So if I wasn't dead, then what was going on with me? I thought long and hard about that before it finally hit me. Could it be? Could it really be that I was some kind of super? How was that possible? How could I have lived ten years without knowing that I had powers? What exactly were my powers to begin with? Could I do anything more than just hover and glow? With that a smile formed on my face. This was so awesome! All that time pretending that I was a super when I actually was one! I only my friends could see me now! I was so happy I laughed then let out a whoop!

Just then I heard some footsteps from around the side of the house and then the gate unlatching. Suddenly, my aura vanished and I fell hard on my butt. As I lay stunned on the ground, I heard the gate open and then I was looking up into the face of one of my friends.

" Hi, Jessica," he said with a puzzled look on his face. "Why are you laying there on the ground?"

"I, um," I started. "I, uh, I fell out of the tree."

"Are you okay?" he asked as he helped me up.

"I'm fine," I told him. I then had a thought. Why did he come back here? And more importantly, did he see me? "Why are you here?"

"I was just coming up to your door to see if you can play when I heard you yell," he said.

"Did you see anything?" I asked with some nervousness.

"No, was I supposed to?"

"No, it's okay." I said, suddenly glad for the ugly and oversized privacy fence that surrounded our backyard. "So, what do you want to play?"

He never knew how close he became to discovering my new secret. If he came up to the gate more quietly or went through the house, he probably would've seen me floating there and surrounded by the aura. As for myself, I kept quiet about it. I didn't even tell my parents. I mean, I kinda knew that if I was a super, then they had to be supers as well. The reason was that somehow I still wasn't able to convince myself that I was a super, even with the evidence literally surrounding me.

About a couple weeks after my first experience, I decided to find out more about my abilities. Since I knew I could at least hover above the ground, I wanted to know where I could go from there. Once again I slipped out into the backyard early in the morning. To start it off I wanted to learn how to hover above the ground or at least produce that glowing aura of fire. Standing out in the middle of the yard, I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, held my arms out, and concentrated. After a while I opened my eyes and looked down. Nothing happened. Sighing in frustration, I tried again, and again, and again. Still nothing happened. I actually began to jump up and down. I probably looked pretty comical just then. If anyone was watching me at that point, they may have thought that I was trying to do an improvised version of the jumping jacks.

I then wondered if I had to be higher off the ground for it to work. After all, I was up in the tree the first time. Deciding that it was worth a try, I went over to the tree where it all began. I climbed just high enough so that I wouldn't be seriously injured if it didn't work. Taking another deep breath, I launched myself off the tree. Well, I flew, for about two feet, before I fell flat on my face. So much for that theory.

Groaning, I rolled over and looked up at the sky. What was going on here? How could I be able to float in the air and have an aura of fire around my body one day, then absolutely nothing the next? Were my powers some sort of on and off thing, and that they only worked when they wanted to? Did I even have powers at all? Maybe I was knocked unconscious in the fall and imagined the whole thing. I didn't see how that was possible. I was pretty sure I was awake through the whole thing.

Whatever it was, I figured that I had to stop before I killed myself. It was getting late in the morning anyway, and my parents were probably already awake. I sat up and stretched…_and a fireball shot out of my right hand and blasted some of the bark off the tree!_

I screamed and actually crawled away backwards from the tree like it was some kind of monster. I was absolutely terrified. I was sucking in huge gulps of air and my heart was trying to blast its way out of my chest. What just happened? Did I actually just see a ball of fire shoot out of my hand and leave a smoking burn mark on the tree?

It took a while before I was able to stand up on my two shaky legs. Cautiously, I walked over to the tree. The burn was no longer smoking but the smell of burnt wood lingered around the area. Slowly I raised my hand and touched it. It was no longer warm. I then looked down at my right hand in wonder. This was really amazing! Now I could actually shoot fire from my hand!

Both excited and curious, I wanted to know if I could do that again. Only this time I didn't want to leave another burn mark on the tree since the first one was probably already noticeable enough. I decided to test on a small metal bucket that was just lying in the corner of the yard. I picked it up and moved to the center of the yard. Then, standing about five feet away from the bucket, I stretched my hand towards it.

Again, nothing happened.

This was getting ridiculous! Did my powers only work accidentally or something? Why couldn't they work when I wanted them to? Sighing, I flicked my hand toward the bucket in frustration, and a bolt of fire came out and hit it, causing it to tumble across the yard.

I looked at my hand and this time smiled. That was more like it! I tried again and flicked my wrist, and again a bolt came out. I tried that with my left hand and again the same thing. I stopped then because I was starting to leave small burns in the grass. I then realized how amazingly easy it was to do, almost like when you learn how to ride a bike. It was like I knew how to do it the whole time. Maybe the reason I couldn't do it before was that I was just trying too hard. If that was the case, then maybe that was why I couldn't hover as well.

Unfortunately, I couldn't test that out right then because my mom came outside then to tell me that breakfast was ready. I still didn't tell her or my dad about my powers. Maybe I was just afraid to since I seemed so normal for so long. Even though I thought it was kind of stupid to even think it, maybe deep down I was terrified that they would reject me. In my heart I knew that that would never happen and they would always love me no matter what, but my brain was overriding that and saying different things.

Amazingly, my parents never noticed the small burns in the grass or even the large one on the tree, or maybe they had and just didn't say anything to me about it. Even then, I figured that I had to start being more safe than sorry. I stopped testing my fireballs outside in the backyard. I also didn't attempt another hover test. Sure, it was killing me inside as I desperately wanted to know what else I could do. I just didn't want anyone to stumble across what I was doing.

A month later, I just couldn't take it anymore. I was surprised that I lasted that long to begin with. I just had to know what else I could do. So once again standing out in the backyard in the early morning light, I told myself that this day I was going to do. I was going to learn how to levitate above the ground. Sure, I might or might not be successful, but I would do it or die trying, hopefully not literally. I remembered how easy it was to launch fire from my hands when I just let it happen. Maybe levitation was the same way, and I just had to let it happen.

I moved out further away from the tree in case I flew up into it if I was successful. I then looked around to see if anyone was watching. When I was confident that I wasn't being watched, I prepared myself. It was now or never. I told myself that I was could do it, was going to do it, and to just let it happen.

Suddenly, the aura of fire appeared around my body, and then I felt my feet begin to rise off the ground. I was levitating! I've done it! Again, I was surprised how easy it was to do when I knew how to do it. I really wish I could tell you how I could do it, but I can't. It's not because I'm not allowed to. I just didn't how it was possible. It seemed as natural to me as breathing was.

Now that I knew how to levitate, I wanted to know if I could actually fly as well. I mean, what good was hovering if you couldn't go anywhere? I wondered how high and fast I could go, if I could fly anywhere at all, that was. Could I only just hover and glide to places? And how was I even hovering in the air at all? Well, the best answer I could give you for that last question was one I came up with later on. It may not even be accurate, but I settled on that I could hover because 'heat rises'.

So there I was, hovering about two feet up in the air and wondering if I could do more than just that, when suddenly I felt a powerful sneeze coming on. I couldn't even stifle it, and I sneezed hard. It would've just been an ordinary sneeze if I was on the ground, but since I was up in the air, somehow it sent me shooting across the yard and smashing against the fence with great force. With that, my aura vanished and I tumbled down onto the ground in a heap. Luckily, I wasn't seriously hurt and didn't break the fence in the process, but I did make a mental note never to sneeze while I was airborne. I then realized how warm my clothes were. Apparently, I produced heat as I flew. I then wondered if it was possible for me to burn my clothes off if I flew fast and far enough. Needlessly to say, I wasn't willing to put that to the test. I figured that I should stop here while I was still in one piece and had clothes on. I would learn how to control my power to fly later.

I never had the chance to learn after that day, however. Just two days later, my parents and I had to go out of town for a family emergency. There was no way I could practice my powers there. By the time we got back, it was time for me to get ready to go back to school. I was extremely busy during that time up until school started. I was also extremely disappointed as well. What else could I do, though? I didn't even have time on the weekends. I did find it interesting, however, that during recess we started up our superhero games again. It was both exciting and frustrating not to be able to tell them that I was really a super. Everyone knew though that a super never revealed their secret identity. I found myself eagerly awaiting the day that I would be able to join them in the fight against crime. I even thought up of some names I could call myself. Then, a little more than a month after school started, the day that would completely change my thoughts about that happened.

I'll always remember that day vividly. I was walking home from school and ready to relax for the weekend. A light rain was falling, but my mood wasn't dampened along with it. In fact, I was happy because I passed my first spelling test of the year and couldn't wait to tell my parents. I was just a block away from home when I felt a hand tug on my long ponytail and heard a familiar giggle. Groaning in disgust, I turned around and looked into the face of Chris Andrews, the class bully. Actually, that wouldn't be quite fair as he mainly picked on the girls of my class, and that included me as well. Unfortunately for me, he also lived along the same way I did, so I had the double-whammy of him sometimes picking on me on the way home. I could feel my great mood evaporating quickly, despite the rain and my damp clothes.

"Leave me alone, Chris," I told him.

"_Leave me alone, Chris,_" he mocked in a high-pitched voice.

I continued walking, hoping that I would get home quickly, but he was making it more difficult by continuing to pull on my hair and laughing like it was the funniest thing in the world. I was getting angrier by the second, but I still managed to keep my cool. I pulled his hand away from my hair.

"I mean it, Chris," I scolded. "Stop it."

"_Stop it,_" he mocked again.

I sighed heavily. He was really asking for it. I was still keeping it together, but only barely. He pulled on my hair again.

"Chris!" I shouted. "Stop it!"

"Or what?" he challenged. "You'll cry like a little baby?"

When he pulled my ponytail that one last time, I completely lost it. I turned around and slapped his face as hard as I could. He had that coming to him for a long time and I felt like I did all the girls in my class a favor that day. However, when he immediately let out an ear-piercing scream and covered the side of his face with both hands, I knew that I hurt him far worse than I intended to.

"My face!" he screamed. "My face! It burns!"

"Oh my God!" I yelled. "Chris, what happened? Let me see!"

I went over to him and after a lot of tugging I managed to pry his hands from his face. What I saw completely horrified me. The side of his face where I slapped him was burned an angry red and purple color! I thought I could even smell the burned skin! I was suddenly very sick to my stomach and felt like I was going to pass out at any second. I couldn't do anything more than just stare at the hand-shaped burn in complete shock.

"C-Chris," I finally was able to stutter out. "I'm…I-I'm s-sorry…"

"Keep away from me!" he shouted at me. He started to back away from me. "Leave me alone."

"Chris, wait!" I tried again. "I didn't…" I didn't finish the sentence as he turned around and ran away as fast as he could.

I didn't know how long I stood there in the steadily increasing rain, a look of shock still on my face. I was shaking, but that wasn't because I was cold from the rain. Tears began to run down my cheeks, although they blended in with my already wet face. I still couldn't believe what I actually did. I didn't mean to do it. I didn't even how I done it. All I meant to do was just slap him. He had pushed me to the edge and I just reacted, but in no way did I mean to burn him.

"I didn't mean to," I whispered, my voice shaking.

Slowly I started to walk again towards home. More tears started to fall. I never thought in a million years that I would be crying over Chris Andrews, but that was what I was doing at that moment. I could still hear and feel the hard slap I gave him and still see the ugly burn on his cheek. I still don't know how I managed to make it home in that condition, but eventually I staggered up to the front door. I was shaking so hard by that point that I couldn't even get my key into the lock. Finally I was able to open the door and walk inside. I must've looked like a zombie.

"Hi, honey," I barely heard Mom greet me from the kitchen.

I didn't answer her. I just stared down at the floor. Funny how you could notice patterns in the carpet you've never seen before that way. She must've noticed that something was wrong, because suddenly she was standing right in front of me.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing," I mumbled.

"Jessica," she said a little sternly. "What's wrong?"

"I don't want to talk about it," I told her.

She put her hand on my shoulder. "Whatever it is, I'm sure you'll feel better if you get it off your chest and tell me."

'_No,' _I thought. _"I'll feel a lot worse, trust me."_

I looked up at her. She had such a compassionate look on her face. I knew that all she wanted was to do was find out what was wrong with me and help me. But how could she help me out with something as serious as this? After a while I decided that I was going to tell her everything. Discovering my powers, testing them out in the backyard, burning Chris' cheek, absolutely everything. What was the worst that could happen? Sure, she might be upset that I hit Chris. She was my mother, though, and I still suspected that she was a super as well. She could help me through this.

I started to open my mouth to talk, but nothing came out. I was disgusted with myself right then. It seemed so simple when I thought about what I would say to her, but when I started to talk it was like it was the hardest thing in the world to do. I told myself earlier that I would feel worse if I told, but I felt worse by _not _telling. What was I going to do?

Eventually Mom backed off. "When you're ready to talk, I'll listen. Okay, hun?" I only nodded. "Dinner will be ready in about an hour." With that she turned around and went back into the kitchen.

I walked slowly up the stairs and into my room. I closed the door behind me, threw my bag onto the floor, and collapsed onto the bed. I then lost it completely, and began to sob uncontrollably. I truly hated myself then. To me it felt like it was the end of the world.

It took a long time for me to calm down enough to think clearly. I turned over and just stared at the ceiling. It seemed that right then the full impact of what I was hit me hard. I was a very dangerous person. I could seriously hurt other people and maybe even kill them if I wanted to. How could I ever have thought that these powers were so awesome over the past few months? I found myself wishing that I never had them to begin with. If I was just like any other normal kid, then maybe all that Chris would've had was a bruised ego rather than a burned face. I made a vow right then and there that I would never use my powers for any reason again. I also vowed that I would never reveal to anyone what I really was and what truly happened that day, and that included my parents. As far as I was concerned, I was no longer a super.

I don't know how long I lay there on my bed when there was a knock on my door. "Honey?" It was my dad. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah," I said softly.

The door opened and Dad stepped in. He came over to my bed and sat down.

"Jessica," he said. "Your mother told me that something was bothering you. You want to talk about it?"

I studied his face closely. I knew that he wasn't going to back down like my mother had. I also knew that I couldn't break my own vow. I thought about what I would say to him.

"I…I slapped Chris Andrews on the way home," I finally told him. It was the partial truth, so I didn't feel too bad about telling him that.

He knew who Chris was, so he understood a little. "Why?"

"He kept pulling on my hair until I lost my temper. I just couldn't help it. I'm really sorry, Dad."

He gently stroked my forehead. "I know, Jess, but you know you shouldn't hit other people."

"I know, Dad. I was an accident and I just feel terrible about it."

"I understand." He smiled a little. "If it makes you feel any better, we won't punish you. I would like for you to apologize to him at school, though."

"I will, Dad," I told him sincerely.

"Good." He then planted a light kiss on my forehead. "Come on, kiddo. Dinner's ready."

Somehow, I always thought that my parents didn't really believe me, but they never said anything. As for Chris, I never had the chance to apologize to him. When I returned to school, a rumor was going around class that he burned himself trying to cook food. About a week later we learned that he moved away from Metroville. Many of the people in my class were happy that he was gone, and I would've been as well if I didn't hurt him like I did. I just felt like I couldn't get any closure by not apologizing to him.

I was no longer the same person I was before the weekend. I even stopped playing superhero with everyone because it just reminded me of that day. In time I learned how to live with it, but I never knew I would completely get over it. My friends and even my parents noticed my change in behavior and wanted to know what was wrong with me, but I never told them anything. In fact, I became more and more of a closed person, never really talking to anyone anymore. Eventually, one-by-one my friends began to stay away from me until one day I realized that they weren't really my friends anymore. It was sad, I know, but I began to think of it like this, as long as they weren't around me, then there wasn't the chance of me accidentally burning them. As I said before, I was a very dangerous person to be around. By that time, though, I preferred to be mostly alone anyway.

In the four years since then, I was still the same closed person, never really talking to anyone. I was branded as a very strange person to be around, but I found myself not caring about that, though. I still hadn't found any evidence of my parents being supers, even though my suspicions were very strong. I wasn't completely without friends. Out of the bunch of friends I had before the accident, I now had just one left. Her name was Allison Kim, and I thought it

was nice of her to suffer my close-mindedness and stick it out with me through both elementary and junior high. In time, I started to talk to her more and more, and soon it was just like old times. She became the only person keeping me from going completely insane. We were happy to learn that we would be going to the same high school together. If all we heard about high school were correct, then we would have to help each other out the best we could, otherwise both of us would go insane.

In spite of all that, though, I was still haunted by the memory of that day. It doesn't affect me as much as it used to, but it's still a very painful thought. I still lived by my vow of never revealing my powers or myself to anyone. Sometimes, when they were interviewing supers on the news and they would talk about how they foiled another bank robbery or saved another busload of children, I found myself wondering how they were able to deal with the fact that their powers could be deadly enough to kill. I figured that they were able to handle it far more than I ever could. I've always supported them, but I knew in my heart that I could never join them. That was how I planned to live out the rest of my life.

I had no way of knowing, however, that all that was going to change very soon. As I said in the beginning, fate sometimes rears its ugly head, and you can't escape from it, no matter how hard you try.


	2. Beginnings

_Authors Note: To all who reviewed, thanks for reviewing and enjoying my story so far. Yes, the first chapter may be a little long. I probably could've trimmed it down a little, but I wanted to get the point across. Think of it as the prologue to the story. And yes, I did notice the spelling errors in the first chapter and corrected them. That's what happens when you type fast and your Spell Check fails. Anyway, here's the second chapter. Hope you enjoy and keep those reviews coming! _

**Chapter 2**

It was after the first day of school and I was walking home alone. Allison was staying behind to join some kind club and told me not to wait up for her. I was happy that we survived our first day of high school, but then I sighed when I remembered that we had four _years _left. In all, it wasn't very bad, although some of the myths we heard about high school were confirmed. I guess it really was true that when people found out that you were a freshman…

"Help!"

Someone was screaming for help. At first, I couldn't tell where it was coming from, but then I figured that it had to be coming from the woods to my right. It sounded like it was deep in the woods as well. What was happening?

"Someone please help me!" the voice yelled again.

It sounded like a little kid, though I couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl. Whoever it was, they sounded like they were in serious trouble. I quickly looked around to see if anyone else heard the cry, but the street was deserted. It looked like it was up to me to see what was going.

I started to run toward the woods, but almost immediately, I stopped. What was I doing? Was I about to go in there without knowing exactly what was going on? I could end up blundering my way into a misunderstanding or, even worse, an ambush of some sort. And even if I did, what could I do? I refused to use my powers again. How could I…

I shook my head to clear those thoughts. What was I doing thinking about something that stupid when there was someone that needed help? This was a no-brainer for sure! Super or no super, I had to try to help.

Throwing all caution to the wind, I bolted into the woods. The only problem was that the moment I did, I didn't know exactly which way to go. The call could've come from any direction. The woods were also incredibly dense. I needed some kind of help here. I needed that person to call for help again.

"Help me!"

As if on cue, the scream came again. It sounded like it came from somewhere to my left. I began running again in that direction. It was real tough going as I had to avoid all the trees and branches. It soon got to the point where everything was looking the same. I began to think that I was lost myself, but I had to help this person first. I had to find out where he was, though, or else I would never find him.

"I'm coming!" I called out. "Where are you? Answer me!"

"I'm over here! Hurry!"

The scream was a lot closer now. It sounded like it came from in front of me. I started moving again. Almost immediately, I came out of the forest and into a large clearing. Right in the middle of the clearing was a large log cabin, and it was completely ablaze. On the second floor, a young boy was leaning out an open window and waving his arms. The actual fire hadn't reached his room yet, but by the way the smoke was pouring out of his room, it wouldn't be too much longer before it would.

"Are you okay?" I yelled up to him. "Can you get out?"

"No, I can't!" he yelled back. "I'm trapped up here! Help me!"

"Okay, I'll find some way to get you out! Just stay calm!"

The only problem was that I didn't know exactly how to rescue him. Going through the burning house itself was certain suicide. I didn't see any ladders lying around on the ground. Judging by the way I ran through the woods, there didn't seem to be any nearby neighbors that I could go to for help. And even if I could get to a phone to call the fire department, there didn't seem to be a way for their engines to get here. God, why did they have to build a cabin in such an isolated spot?

"Can you help me?" the boy yelled down to me.

"Yes, I will!" I called back. "Just hold on!"

But how could I help him? There just didn't seem to be a way to reach him. The fire was getting closer to him with every passing second. There had to be a way to get to him. There just had to be.

"There is," a voice said from behind me.

I turned around and there stood a woman. She was almost completely clad in what looked like black armor. Her face was covered with a black mask. As far as I could tell, I didn't know who she was.

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"I said, there is a way to reach him," she said.

Somehow, her voice sounded so familiar to me. I knew that I heard that voice from somewhere before. I couldn't place it, though. It seemed to be just out of reach in my mind, but now wasn't the time to be thinking about that.

"Can you help me?" I asked her.

"No, I can't," she answered. "You already know how."

I was confused. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means just that. You know how to rescue him."

Who was this lady? Did she always talk like this, especially at times such as this?

"Look, I don't have time for this!" I told her. "That little boy is in danger! Tell me how to save him!"

"You already know how, so just do it. Hurry, there isn't much time."

Man, it was like talking to a brick wall! How could I save this boy if she wouldn't tell me exactly how? All that she kept telling me was that I already knew how to save him. What exactly did that…?

Suddenly, it hit me and I knew exactly what she was trying to say. My eyes widened and my mouth fell open. No, I couldn't. I just couldn't do it.

"I can't," I said softly. "I just can't."

"Yes, you can," she told me.

"No, I can't do it!" I shouted at her. "Don't you understand? I can't use my powers! Not again!"

"You have to if you want to save him."

"I just can't do it! I swore I would never use my powers again!"

She sighed. "Then you have just condemned this boy to death, and maybe yourself along with him."

With that she turned around and disappeared into the woods, leaving me and the trapped boy alone…

_BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_

At first I was disoriented and couldn't tell what the noise was, but then I realized that it was my incredibly loud alarm clock. Not wanting to open my eyes just yet, I fumbled around blindly to try to turn it off, but only succeeded in knocking it off my nightstand. Groaning, I just reached down and pulled the plug out of the wall. The blessed silence lasted only a few seconds before my phone rang. I reached over and picked it up.

"Hullo," I muttered sleepily.

"Hey, Jess. It's Allison." She sounded wide awake and very cheerful, neither of which I was or needed to be at that time. "Did I just wake you up or something?"

"Sort of."

"Well, it's time for you to get up. It's our first day of high school, you know."

I groaned. "Thanks for reminding me. I was kinda hoping to forget."

She laughed. "It won't be so bad, trust me. Anyway, I gotta go and get ready. I'll see you in about an hour, alright?"

"Yeah, sure. See ya."

I had just hung up the phone when there was a knock on my door. I sighed loudly. God, couldn't I just get one whole _minute _of peace and quiet? Was that just too much to ask? As you could probably tell already, I was a very grouchy person first thing in the morning, especially if it involved things like your first day of school.

"Yes," I said maybe a little louder than I intended to.

"Hi, honey." It was Mom. "Are you awake?"

"Yes, I'm awake."

"Okay, then. Breakfast will be ready soon."

Very slowly I managed to drag myself up into a sitting position. I noticed how damp my pajamas and bed sheets were. I must've been sweating up a storm during the night. I knew that I was dreaming about something, but I couldn't remember quite what it was about. I remembered that it involved some woods and a fire of some sort. There was something else, but it was out of reach. It didn't make much sense, but then again, what kind of dreams do?

I looked at my clock to see what time it was, but then I remembered that I knocked it off and then unplugged it. I picked my watch up off the nightstand and peered at it through tired eyes. I eventually saw that it just after six in the morning.

"T-minus one hour and thirty-five minutes to blast-off," I said to myself.

Still not quite fully awake yet, I figured that a nice warm shower was what I needed. It took a lot of effort to drag my tired body to the bathroom. It was worth it in the end, though. After I took my shower I felt wide awake, but unfortunately, it didn't warm up my mood along with it. Now feeling like I wasn't half dead, I went back into my room and put on the outfit I picked out the night before and messed around with my still damp hair a little bit. Finally satisfied with my appearance, I went downstairs to join my parents. They were watching the news while they were eating breakfast.

"…_and we here at Channel 4 News thank Prototron for another job well done. In other news, the MagSpeed, the world's first maglev train certified for commercial use, passed its final test run last night and has been deemed ready for passenger transport. This train will be the fastest in the world when it enters service next week on its inaugural run from Centralia to Metroville and then onto Munichberg. The MagSpeed will eventually be part of a…"_

"Hey, there she is," Dad said. "There's our little freshman."

"Dad, please," I groaned.

"How are you feeling this morning, honey?" Mom asked.

"Like I felt on every other first day of school," I told her as I sat down next to them.

"I'm sure you'll love it, Jess," Dad said. "They say that high school is the best four years of your life."

'_Or the worst,'_ I thought. _'Whatever comes first.'_

"Yeah, they were the some of the best years of my life," he continued on. "They say it's a golden time in your life and sometimes wish you could live all over again. You know, I met your mother in high school, Jess. Just think, maybe by the time you graduate you would've met your ideal man…"

"Dad!" I moaned. "I haven't eaten yet!"

If there was one thing you would've noticed about my dad right then, it's that sometimes he likes to ramble on about certain things, in this case, his golden years of high school. Sometimes it provides for great entertainment, but for right now, I didn't want to hear anything about it.

The great thing about that morning so far was that Mom made blueberry pancakes, my favorite. I helped myself to the small stack of pancakes Mom made for me and began to eat it quickly. I couldn't help but think that this was my last meal before my sentence was carried out. I knew that it was a stupid thought, in fact, all the thoughts that I had about high school were probably stupid. I mean, they were just stories, and I heard practically the same stories before I started junior high. There were a few moments that I would love to forget, and no, I'm not going to mention them, but overall I came through it just fine. I was sure I would survive high school just fine as well.

I just couldn't help it, though. This was high school now, and the stories that I heard about it were pretty ugly, especially the stories about what happens to vulnerable freshmen. According to the stories, the teachers there could be absolute beasts, and once you've entered their classrooms, you would be lucky to escape still somewhat sane, if at all. That wasn't even the worst of it. There was a tradition among the other students, mainly the seniors but could be some of the others, that involved how many of the "fresh meat" they could prank on the first day. Any unlucky freshman caught in their grasp was subject to school wide humiliation. That was definitely not what I needed. So as you could see, that was the reason I was still feeling a little nervous about all this.

I had just finished my breakfast when there was a knock on my door. I knew right away that it was Allison. Sure enough, when my dad opened the door, Allison came inside and into the kitchen, great attitude and all. It only made mine worse. How could she be happy on a day like this? Then again, I should know better. She was a very strange person to be around.

"Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Wells," she greeted. "Hey, Jess. Ready to go?"

"Uh, I'm still kinda finishing up breakfast here if you hadn't noticed," I told her.

"Speaking of going, I have to get going to work," Dad said. He grabbed his briefcase and went to the door. "I'll see you later. Have a great day at school, you two." With that, he went out the door.

Mom got up from the table. "I have to check up on something upstairs. Let me know when you're ready to leave." She then went upstairs, leaving me and Allison alone.

"So how come you're in such a sorry mood this morning?" Allison asked as I finished my breakfast.

"Probably for the same reason you're so happy," I told her.

She chuckled. "Oh, that? Come on, Jess, this is high school we're talking about here. We're in the major leagues, the last leg, things like that. A whole new journey awaits us, my friend. Who knows, maybe we'll each meet a cute new boyfriend along the way."

"Allison!" I complained. "It's too early in the morning for this stuff!"

"What better time to get started, then?" she said. "You know what they say, 'The early bird gets the cutest boy first'."

I stared at her for the longest time, then I started to chuckle. She joined in, and almost immediately, we were laughing our heads off. I couldn't help myself. Man, she was so terrible! No matter how foul a mood I am in, she could always manage to force a laugh from me. How she was able to do it, I would probably never know.

"You are so full of it, Allison!" I was able to say between laughs.

"I know. That's why you love me, admit it."

I just shook my head. "Alright fine, I admit it. You happy now?

"As a matter of fact, I am." She chuckled some more before saying, "You still really didn't answer my question though, Jess. Why such a long face?"

I sighed. "Well, it just feels like we're starting all over again. New school, new teachers, new students, things like that. Not to mention all the stories we've heard. It seemed like all of them said that high school's all doom and gloom. I don't know, Allison. It just feels like I'm not ready for this yet."

"They're just stories, Jess," she told me. "They're the same ones we've heard before we started junior high. Every school has their bad teachers. I'm sure it won't be all doom and gloom. Just wait and see."

I smiled a little. "Okay, then. Since you put it that way, I can't _wait _to tell you, 'I told you so', when we _see _that some of the stories are true."

Allison sighed. "I didn't mean it quite like that, you know."

Just then Mom came back downstairs. "Okay, it's about time to leave. Are you girls ready?"

"As ready as we'll ever be," I told her.

Grabbing my stuff, we all left the house and piled into Mom's tiny SUV. As we left and were on our way, my mind began to wander. Once again, I began to think that maybe high school wouldn't be so bad. I mean, there had to be far worse places to go to. If I encountered any bad teachers or fellow students, I would just deal with it. At the same time, I probably would make a few new friends, presuming none of them heard about my reputation. And maybe, as Allison and my dad pointed out, I would probably end up getting a boyfriend, again, assuming they hadn't heard about me. Not that I was in any kind of rush, mind you, I did have four years, after all. I began to smile a little as my mood began to lighten. I was beginning to enjoy the quiet ride to school, which was now only a few minutes away. Unfortunately for me, however…

"Hey, Mrs. Wells," Allison said from the backseat. "Can you tell us about your days going to high school?"

'_Allison!' _I thought. Only she can find some way to ruin the mood.

Mom chuckled. "Well, unfortunately, I can't tell you everything right now. Let's just say that it was one crazy ride. There were a few rough moments, but I pretty much cruised through high school with straight As. I belonged to several clubs. I was a cheerleader back then as well, which was how I met your father, Jessica. Those were some good days."

Just then we pulled up in front of the school. It was already a huge mass of cars, busses, and students in the parking lot. It looked like chaos, and it seemed like we had a fight on our hands just to get to the front doors.

"Okay, freshmen, you're here," Mom said. "Have a great day."

Reluctantly, I climbed out of the SUV with Allison close behind. After Mom left, we turned around and looked at our brand new school, Washington High. It really was a brand new school, built to replace the old and overcrowded one a couple years back. It was a very imposing building with three floors, a hundred or so staff members, and about 2,500 students. I began to wonder if my parents had first day jitters before they cruised through high school.

"Well, Allison," I said. "Are you ready to die?"

"Nope," she said. "I plan to live forever. Look on the bright side. This could be fun."

"Yeah," I muttered. "As fun as a trip to the dentist."

She laughed. "Man, Jess, you are so negative this morning. If you lighten up a little bit, then maybe you could start to enjoy it. Anyway, I have to go. My homeroom's on the other side of the building and I want to get a good seat. By the way, Jess?"

"Yeah?" I answered.

An evil smile formed on her lips. "Beware of the upperclassmen and teachers. They can smell your fear from miles away! You will become their prey and not even know it!"

I groaned loudly. "Oh, jeez, Allison! Some best friend you are! Sacrificing me to the sharks while you make your great escape! I bet you wouldn't even notice that I'm gone, would you?"

"Survival of the fittest is the law of the jungle, Jess," she said. "As I said, I have to go. See you later, if you're still alive, that is." With that she disappeared into the crowd.

"Yeah, see you later, you traitor," I muttered under my breath.

I pulled out my registration paper and remembered that my homeroom was Room 204. Sighing, I began to push my way through the crowd and into the school. Inside it was even worse. I tried to remember my way to the room from the orientation tour we had a couple weeks before. Of course, at that time there were maybe a couple dozen fellow freshmen and their families. Now there were a couple thousand fellow students all trying to get to their homerooms, among them maybe a few hundred lost freshmen desperately trying to get there in one piece.

It took me a while, but I managed to fight my way through the crowd and arrive at my homeroom. After taking several deep breaths I went inside. Sitting at the front desk was a tall, chubby, and heavily balding old man. He had his head buried in a newspaper and didn't notice me coming in. What caught my attention first that the few students that were in the room were all sitting in the back. The other thing was that they were as still and quiet as statues. I think it was the first time since I started going to school that I saw a classroom that was _completely _quiet and still. Not really thinking much about it, I just sat down in the nearest desk. Sitting on the desk was a sheet of paper. I picked it up and began to read it.

**MR. SCHMIDT'S LIST OF NONNEGOTIABLE RULES FOR HOMEROOM:**

**Find a seat, place yourself in it, and keep your mouth shut.**

**You will be on time to this homeroom. No exceptions.**

**Bring only things related to school. Anything else will be confiscated immediately and become my property. You will NOT get them back.**

**You will answer when the teacher calls on you.**

**You will not talk back to the teacher.**

**You will not make noises of any kind in this room.**

**There is no democracy in this homeroom. What the teacher says goes.**

**THESE RULES ARE ORDERS, NOT REQUESTS. BREAKING ANY OF THESE RULES WILL BE MET WITH SEVERE CONSEQUENCES. I SHOW NO MERCY FOR DELINQUENTS. THIS IS YOUR FIRST AND ONLY WARNING FOR THE ENTIRE SCHOOL YEAR.**

I couldn't believe what I was reading! I actually read and re-read the paper over and over to see if I read it right the first time. How in God's name did this guy ever become a teacher? It was painfully clear that he hated kids. I guess that was a typical behavior of some old people, having to put up with us 'delinquents'. I figured that the best thing for me to do was just stay out of his way for the whole school year.

More kids trickled into the room, probably wondering the same thing I was just a few minutes earlier. Of course, once they sat down and read the paper, they got the message real fast. I just sat there thinking that all the bad stories that I've heard about high school were confirmed so far.

At precisely eight o'clock, Mr. Schmidt stood up from the desk and grabbed his attendance notebook. He towered over all of us and peered at us with laser eyes. I swore that I heard a few students swallow hard. I couldn't blame them, either. For the first time since kindergarten, I actually felt a little nervous towards a teacher. I seriously began to question whether I would make it out of this homeroom alive by the end of the year.

"Answer present when I call your name," he grumbled.

This was the part that I really hated, having someone call out your name and then having to answer. I always envied the students whose last name began with A. At least they got it over with quickly, while my last name was almost always at the bottom of the list. I already knew that this experience would be a thousand times worse. As he read down the list, students responded back, some with squeaky voices. That just made me all the more nervous.

Just as he got to my name, another student came in. He looked like he just got back from running a marathon. He was breathing hard, his face was red, and his dirty blond hair was matted with sweat. Mr. Schmidt glared at him. The poor boy probably didn't know what was in store for him.

"You're one minute late," he said. "I don't tolerate lateness."

"I'm sorry," the boy said. "I couldn't find this room."

"Typical freshmen," he muttered. "What's your name?"

"Chance Harding."

"Well, Mr. Harding, since I'm in a relatively good mood, consider this your only warning. Don't be late again. Find a seat."

I blinked as Chance hurried to a seat and sat down. _That _was Mr. Schmidt's good side? If that was it, then I would sure hate to see his bad side.

He looked back down at his notebook. "Wells, Jessica."

My mouth suddenly went dry, but I forced myself to answer, "Present."

My voice was a little higher than normal. He looked at me and for a moment I thought that he sensed that something was up, but he then went back to his desk and I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding.

The next twenty minutes were the longest I've ever had to endure. The room was as quiet as a mausoleum. No one even dared to sneeze! I spent those minutes thinking that there couldn't be an upcoming teacher that was any worse than Mr. Schmidt. When the bell finally rang, there was a mad rush for the door. As I left the room, I could only hope that the rest of my day went better.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After the final bell rang, I left out the doors in a much better mood than when I entered them that morning. With the exception of Mr. 'Ivan the Terrible' Schmidt, all of my teachers were quite nice. Also of note, I wasn't pursued by any bloodthirsty senior. It was all mainly orientation and things like that, so the only things I had to take home were forms for my parents to sign. All in all, I would say that my first day of high school went quite well.

Almost immediately after leaving the school, I bumped into Allison. It was amazing that I didn't see her at all during school. It was probably because we didn't have any classes together. That really sucked because we wanted at least one class together.

"Hey, Jess," she greeted. "You've managed to survive. I didn't think you had it in you."

"Very funny, Allison," I told her. I scanned the parking lot for my Mom's truck, but it was nowhere to be seen. She must've not arrived yet.

"Well, come on, Jess," Allison said. "Spill it! How was it? It couldn't have been all that bad, could it?"

I sighed. "Okay, you were sort of right. It wasn't all bad. There was just one exception, though."

"Really? Who is it?"

"Mr. Schmidt," I told her in a low voice. "The ultimate homeroom teacher from hell."

"Are you serious?" she asked.

I nodded. "He made our former principal look like a saint."

She laughed. "Come on, Jess. No teacher could be _that _bad."

"Oh, no?" I pulled out the so-called list of nonnegotiable rules and handed it to her. "Read this and then tell me that."

She took the paper and read it. After only a few seconds I saw her eyes go wide. A few more seconds later she looked up at me, still in disbelief.

"No way!" she said. "He actually came up with something like this?"

"Yes, he did," I told her. "You should've seen how quiet the room was."

She shook her head. "No, I don't think I would want to. Wow, I feel sorry for you."

"Thanks for the moral support."

I was just about to ask Allison on how her own first day went, when I saw Mom pull into the parking lot. When she pulled up next to us we climbed inside and then she pulled away.

"Hey, you two," Mom greeted. "Sorry for being late. Traffic in this area is terrible. They should really think about expanding the roads around here. So, how was school, honey?"

I shrugged. "It was okay, I guess."

"Just 'okay', Jessica? There isn't anything else?"

"That's about it, really."

"How about you, Allison? How was high school for you?"

"It was great," she said. "I think I'll definitely like it there."

"That's great," Mom told her. "I'm glad to hear you're enjoying it."

A few minutes later we pulled up into Allison's driveway. She climbed out of the truck and shut the door behind her.

"I'll call you later tonight," she told me. "Is that alright, Jess?"

"That's fine," I told her.

Mom had just backed the truck out of the driveway when she asked, "Is there something that's going on with you, Jessica?"

Why would she ask a question like that? "No, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"Your father and I noticed that you always seem to be under pressure. Is there something that's bothering you?"

"No," I replied. "Nothing's bothering me."

She stayed quiet for a moment before she said, "Okay, but just remember that we're there for you. If something's wrong, just tell us about it, okay?"

"I will," I told her.

My parents seem to ask me that question once in a while. Did I really look like I was under so much pressure that I was ready to explode at any moment? It didn't seem like it to me, but maybe they could see something in me that I couldn't see for myself.

About a few minutes after we dropped Allison off, we pulled up in front of our house. I got out but Mom didn't.

"I have to go and run some errands," she told me. "I'll be back in about an hour."

She drove away while I fumbled around for my house key. I had just put it into the lock when I heard the phone start to ring. I opened up the door and went inside. At first I was just going to let it ring and have the answering machine take care of it, but curiosity got the best of me. Dropping my bag to the floor, I went over to the phone and picked it up.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Is this Jessica Wells?" a young male voice asked.

"Yes, it is," I told him. I didn't recognize the voice. "May I ask who's calling?"

"I can't tell you that just yet. I can just tell you that I go to Washington High School just like you do. I don't have a lot of time to talk, so just listen and don't hang up. First thing, Jessica, I know what you really are. I know that you're a super."

I dropped the phone just then, cold fear freezing my blood. How could this person know that I'm a super? I never told anyone about that. Who was this guy? How did he know our phone number? And more importantly, what did he want?

"Jessica, are you there?" his voice filtered up from the receiver.

Cautiously, I picked up the receiver and slowly raised it up to my ear. "Y-yes, I'm here," I said, my voice shaking.

"I'm really sorry that I shocked you like that," he said. "I swear to you that I'm your friend and your secret's safe with me, so you don't have to worry."

"Who are you?" I demanded. "How did you know about me?"

"I can't tell you that. Just trust that I'm your ally in this. Listen to me, because this is extremely important. Something big is about to happen in Metroville. I'm not sure what it is, but I know that it's major. I'm also not fully sure on this, but I suspect that one or both of your parents may be involved, but they might not know it. You need to investigate them and see what they're doing. I have to go now. Remember what I said, this is very serious."

"Wait a sec…"

It was too late as the line went dead. I just stood there, phone still in hand. I was still in shock. It seemed like it was all a bad dream, but I knew that it wasn't. I wished that it was, though. Somehow, one of the students at my school knew that I was a super. It was my deep dark secret that I vowed never to reveal to anyone, yet somehow he knew. If he knew, then how many other people knew? What was about to happen in Metroville? When would it happen? And exactly how were my parents involved in this, even if they didn't know?

Suddenly, it seemed like Mr. Schmidt and high school were the very least of my current problems.


	3. The Investigation

_Author's note: See at the end of this chapter. Enjoy!_

**Chapter 3**

'_Okay, Jess,' _I thought to myself. _'Just calm down for a second. Let's just think this through rationally.'_

Yeah, right. That was a lot easier said then done. In fact, right then it was next to impossible. A half hour had passed since the call, and I was sitting down on the couch in the living room and still a shattered wreck. I spent most of that time trying to figure out if I recognized that voice from anywhere, but came up empty. I just didn't know who that person was, but apparently he knew who I was. At one moment I began to think if this was some sort of prank call, but immediately dismissed it as impossible. Of course, there was the possibility that this person just called up people at random and told them that he knew that they were supers. Still, I highly doubted that, as an ordinary prankster could never have made _that _good of a guess with me.

So how did he know that I was a super? I was racking my brain to come up with an answer. Maybe he was some sort of psychic super that detected what I was when we were at school. It sounded crazy, even unbelievable, but when you're dealing with supers, anything seemed possible. Assuming that he wasn't a telepath of something, then how else could he have known? Just then a terrifying thought hit me. What if he had somehow been spying on me when I was testing my powers those four years ago? I seemed so sure that I hadn't been seen during that time. There were those close calls, but just maybe they weren't as close as I would've liked them to be. As I said, with supers anything was possible.

However it happened, I still felt so violated. Being a super was supposed to be my secret to the grave, but now that seemed like that would no longer be the case. Right then, I made it a top priority to find out who this person was and how he knew about me. I already knew that it was going to be an immense challenge. The only evidence that I had was that he was a student that went to my school. That really wasn't going to help me much. There were hundreds of boy students that went to Washington High. If that wasn't enough, he made it sound like he was a super as well. It was known fact to everyone that supers blended into the regular population and did ordinary stuff, and one of those things was attending school. If by some miracle I managed to find this person, I was going to drag the truth out of him the best I could, even if it meant having to use my powers to do so.

I also remembered what he said at the end of the call. He said that something big was going to happen in Metroville. What exactly was going to happen? How big would it be? And why did he contact me with this information? What could I possibly do about it? I was a super that didn't want to be one. Even with that, it wasn't like I had any experience dealing with this kind of stuff. So what did he expect me to do, try to warn the city about what was going to happen? I could just see it now, _"Hi, I'm calling to tell you that a mysterious voice called me and said that something was going to happen to Metroville soon." _I knew that they wouldn't believe me without some kind of evidence. In fact, they would probably think I was a person with a screw loose and would send the men with the straightjackets after me.

I then remembered that he said that my parents were somehow involved with this and may not even know it. What was that supposed to mean? How exactly were they involved? I just couldn't think of my parents doing anything possibly evil. I still hadn't proved that they were supers themselves. I began to think about what they could be doing to be involved. My dad worked for a company called Advanced Technologies, Inc., or simply known as ATI. He was one of the heads in the Department of Research and Development. For what he told me, ATI did a lot of projects that ranged from commercial computer system development to highly prized and even classified military contracts. I remembered when he took me on a tour of the huge facility five years ago. He seemed so proud of what was being accomplished there and how he was a part of it. In fact, he was probably more proud nowadays than back then. Most times when he came home he would disappear into his study for hours at a time. I never really knew what he did in there as during that time he didn't really want to be disturbed unless dinner was ready. I could now understand how that could cause a little suspicion, but that wasn't nearly enough to convince me that he was doing anything bad.

As for my mother, she always stayed at home and took care of things. As we were supported by the huge income my dad was making, she saw no reason to find a job for herself. She would always run out during some kind of errand. Believe me, I always thought about if she was doing something other than just running down to the local grocery store, maybe something like doing superhero work, but there was no way I could prove it. I did notice how sometimes she would give me this strange look when we were at the dinner table or riding in her truck. I also noticed how sometimes when she would talk to me she would sometimes start to say something but then stop abruptly. When I would ask what she was about to say, she would answer that it was nothing important and not worry about it. It was like she knew that there was something going on with me, but never said anything or even acknowledged it to me. Again, that could be suspicious behavior, but again, that wasn't enough proof.

I shook my head slowly and sighed deeply. I knew in my heart that my parents weren't evil people. I knew that they wouldn't be involved in something that could possibly destroy Metroville. Yet, somehow, I couldn't rid myself of the nagging doubt that I now had in my brain. Their suspicious behavior might not be enough to convince me that they were involved in some terrible plot, but it was enough for me to try to find out what was really happening. I just had to know what was going on behind the scenes. I looked at my watch and saw that it was just after four-thirty. My dad would be getting off work in a little less than an hour.

"Well, what better time to get started then?" I told myself.

I figured that the first place to start my investigation was in, where else, my dad's study. I rarely have been inside there. It wasn't like Dad had forbidden me to go in there. It's just that I had no real reason to, well, that was until today. Even thinking that, I felt like I was about to invade his privacy, which, in a way I was. I mean, I wouldn't like it if my parents were snooping around in my room while I was at school, even though I'm pretty sure they did that anyway. I knew that this wasn't right and I should even be having doubts about them. I still trusted them completely. On the other hand, I was now completely curious about them and knew that I wouldn't rest until I could prove their innocence. I wrestled with both of those decisions for about a minute before I knew what I had to do.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," I muttered softly.

I got up off the couch and slowly made my way toward Dad's study. With every slow step my heartbeat seemed to increase by a factor of ten. I could almost literally hear it in my ears. I felt like a burglar trying to break into Fort Knox. When I reached the door to the study, I was actually afraid that if I opened the door, some sort of loud alarm would go off and alert the whole neighborhood. I knew that was stupid the moment I thought it. There was no reason for him to have an alarm, unless he really did have a stockpile of gold in there. Yeah, I wish. I let out a small giggle with that.

Knowing that I was wasting valuable time, I opened the door to the study and quickly stepped inside. It was basically what I expected to see in there. There was his high end computer sitting on an equally high end desk. To the left of that was a bookcase filled to capacity with all types of books. The walls of the study were decorated with certificates of excellent workmanship, employee-of-the-year awards, newspaper articles that talked about ATI, and even a couple of pictures of him and his colleagues. I did notice a picture of my parents and myself among all those things. It was taken when I was eight and we were vacationing down in the Florida Keys. It was one of the few times in my life that we were able to take a real vacation. I looked at my smiling self in the pictures and sighed. Those were happier and simpler times back then, back before all this started.

I actually felt a little disappointment as I looked around the room. I didn't know why I felt that way, when I didn't know exactly what I was supposed to look for. I figured that the most obvious place to look for info would be on Dad's computer, but since I knew that it was password protected and I didn't have the slightest idea what the password would be, that wouldn't be any help at all. With the computer out of the question, I figured that the next best place would probably be on some notes he had stashed in his desk drawers. I went over to the desk and opened up one of the drawers. Inside there was a small book. I knew almost immediately that it was a diary. My dad keeps a diary? I don't even have one. I knew that I was about to break every law of privacy doing this, but I had to know what was in there. I picked it up and opened it up to the first page.

**_4-28-90: I forgot that I was supposed to take Jessica to the zoo today. She's pretty upset with me about it. I promised her that I'll take her there soon. It's just that work's been so busy lately, especially since it looks like ATI will win the MagnaSpeed contract. The next couple of weeks will definitely be exciting._**

I shook my head as I remembered that incident. I just couldn't believe how he forgot to take me to the city zoo. We had it planned out for about a month. He eventually did take me to the zoo, about a month later. It didn't feel right that second time, but at least he did try. However, this wasn't what I was looking for, so I skipped though a few more pages until I came up to another entry.

**_7-2-91: I went out to mow the backyard and saw some very strange burn marks in the grass as well as on the tree. I told Veronica about this and she suggested that maybe they were caused by flying embers from Mr. Wilson's grill. Somehow I really didn't quite believe that. Well, maybe that could explain the marks in the grass, but on the tree it looked like someone took a blowtorch to it. I know for sure that Jessica doesn't play with fire, at least, I hope she doesn't. Maybe I'll figure out what really caused it later._**

So they did notice those burn marks I left in the grass. That finally answered my four-year-old question. From what it sounded like, he didn't know exactly what caused them. I was slightly relieved that he didn't ever suspect me, but I wondered what my mother thought. She told Dad that the burns could've been made by embers from our next door neighbor. That explanation sounded strange to me. Even I wouldn't quite believe it if I hadn't known the truth. What was even stranger was that they never confronted me about this. Why hadn't they? Did my mother actually know the truth about me, or eventually both of them for that matter? I continued to read on.

**_9-24-91: When I came home from work today, Veronica confronted me and told me that something was very wrong with Jessica. She came home from school looking very upset and didn't really seem to know that her mother was there. I went into her room to ask her what was wrong and she told me that she hit Chris Andrews. I could somewhat see how that could make her upset, but I felt like she wasn't telling me the full truth. I didn't try to press the issue as it was obvious that she didn't want to talk about it. She was also unusually quiet during dinner, not looking up at us and barely eating her food. This wasn't like her at all. She is always so cheerful and talkative at the table. After she went to bed, Veronica and I talked and wondered what could've happened earlier today that made Jessica act like this. I wanted to discuss this with her tomorrow, but Veronica told me not to and said that it would be better if Jessica told us when she was ready to. I don't know, it seems like it's something that she didn't want to talk about for a long while, but I'll trust my wife on this one._**

He was right about that. It was something I never wanted to talk about, not even today. It still hurt me to think about it. It took me the better part of a year to learn how to live with it. To my knowledge they never figured out the real reason that I was so upset. However, it still surprises me that they never did ask me what really happened. Maybe they never bothered to, or maybe they figured it out by themselves. I never could really understand my parents, and I'm sure they couldn't understand me as well. We were a weird family. I continued to read on, but the more I read, the more I was convinced that my dad was innocent. I couldn't believe that I ever thought that he was involved in some nasty plot. If I ever found out who that person was, I was definitely going to give him a piece of my mind. However, all that changed the moment I read the last entry, dated just a couple weeks earlier.

**_8-16-95: Our secret project is almost ready to go. It would've been ready last week, but Harriman wanted one last system installed, something that would give the top military brass a real shock at the ceremony next month. I was excited with this new system. I'm sure everyone there will be dying to see it, and they will. I can't wait to see it perform. A new change is definitely in the air._**

No, it wasn't possible! I couldn't have read it like I thought I had! I just couldn't have. I was almost hysterical at that point. I think I forgot how to breathe. When I was finally able to calm down enough to think clearly, I put the diary back into the drawer and slowly left the study. I went back into the living room and fell onto the couch.

"It couldn't be," I whispered. "It just couldn't be."

This just had to be circumstantial evidence. Maybe I really read it wrong, that it didn't mean what I thought it meant. It didn't look like it, though. It looked very much like that he and a few others were involved in a plot to assassinate a lot of important people at some ceremony sometime this month. I refused to believe it. My father was no murderer. There had to be another explanation . I just had to find it.

Just then I heard his car pull up into the driveway. It was all I could do to not run out and confront him, to scream at him, _'How could you, Dad? How could you be involved in a plot to kill people?' _ Instead, I just sat there in silence waiting for him to open the door. I didn't have to wait long, because just then the door opened and he stepped inside.

"Hi, Jess," he greeted. "How are you?"

"I'm…fine," I told him.

He set his briefcase down and went into the kitchen. "I'm about to cook dinner. Why don't you come in here and tell me how school went, Jess."

"I rather not," I told him.

"Oh, come on. I'm sure high school wasn't that bad. Come tell me about it."

I sighed and stood up from the couch, "Okay, fine. I'm coming."

I went into the kitchen. Dad was getting some stuff out from the refrigerator. I sat down at the table. I studied him, trying to see if there was anything remotely wrong with him, something that could possibly make him a bad person…

'_Stop it, Jess!' _I scolded myself. _'Just stop it! Your dad is not, repeat, NOT a bad person! Stop thinking like that!'_

"Well?" he said, breaking my thoughts. "Are you going to tell me how your day went?"

"Oh, um," I said. "It was alright, I guess. I do have this homeroom teacher named Mr. Schmidt that…"

"Mr. Schmidt?" Dad interrupted. "Mr. Thomas Schmidt? He's still there?"

"Yeah, that's him." I temporarily forgot my thoughts about him. "Do you know him?"

Dad scoffed. "Do I ever! He was my math teacher for two years at the old Washington High School. I always wondered how someone like him became a teacher."

"Did he seem to hate students back then, too?" I asked.

"Yeah, but he seemed to single me out for some reason or another. I don't know why. I thought I did well enough for his class. Apparently, it wasn't well enough for him, as he would always say something like," he began to imitate Mr. Schmidt's deep voice, _"Stephen, you're slacking off in my class again! Maybe if you get your head out of your behind, you'll actually learn something!"_

I snickered. "Yeah, I could already imagine him saying something like that."

"The class actually came up with a nickname for him. I can't tell you what it is until you're a little older. Let's just say it fit him nicely."

"It probably did. I bet that we'll have our own nickname for him by the end of the year."

He laughed. "I wouldn't be surprised if you did."

I was actually beginning to enjoy our little conversation. In fact, it already convinced me that I was wrong about him. He wasn't an evil person. I felt so stupid that I could ever think of him that way. Just then Mom came in through the front door. She was carrying a few sacks of groceries.

"Hey, I'm back," she said. "I would've been back sooner, but I had to take one of my friends home from work. Oh, I see that you're cooking dinner, dear."

"Yep, it's my turn to try to burn down the kitchen tonight, honey."

"Okay, let me just put this stuff away and I'll help you with that."

I chuckled under my breath. It was funny to watch them joke with each other like that. They were weird parents indeed. I had to go to the bathroom at that point, so I excused myself from the table. Once in the bathroom, I took a quick look at myself in the mirror. My face looked like a mess. I wondered how my parents didn't notice it. When I was finished in the bathroom, I remembered that I had forms from school for my parents to sign. They were still in my backpack in the living room. As I passed the kitchen, I heard my parents talking in low voices. It was hard to hear what they were saying because the dishwasher was running.

"…think we should tell Jessica now?" That was Mom.

"Not yet," Dad said. "Let's wait until after the ceremony. We can tell her then."

"Do you really think she'll like this?"

"I don't know. I hope that she will. You can't really tell with her, though. Let's stop talking about his before she comes back."

What was going on? What were they talking about? Tell me what? What would I or would I not like? The suspicions in my head from earlier came rushing back. My mother couldn't be involved in this, too, could she? God, this wasn't happening! I was almost hyperventilating. I couldn't think straight. I had to get out of the house to try and clear my head.

"Um," I said slowly. "I'm going outside for a little fresh air."

"Alright, hon," Mom said. "Don't wander off too far. Dinner will be ready soon."

Once outside I sat down on the front porch. The sun was starting to set, casting a beautiful orange glow over the city. A light fragrant breeze was blowing. It was a perfect summer evening, too bad I wasn't in the mood to enjoy it. My mind was a total mess. All this just seemed too impossible to believe. In fact, something about this just didn't seem right. Maybe I really wanted to believe that my parents weren't bad. At that point, I didn't really know what to believe anymore.

I don't know how long I sat there on the porch before a large golden retriever came up to me. I was still very lost in thought so I didn't notice him right away. At least, not until he poked his snout into my knee.

"Hey, boy," I said, giving him a gentle pat on his head. "What are you doing here? Don't you have a home to go to or something?"

I noticed that he had no collar, so I assumed that he didn't. Still, I had a soft spot in my heart for dogs. I would've loved to have one as a pet, but since my dad was allergic to pet hair, that was out of the question.

"You look like a stray," I said. "I would give you some food, but I have nothing to give you. Sorry."

It was strange, but I began to feel somewhat better just talking to someone, even if that someone was a stray dog. Maybe it was because at that point, for different reasons, we were both alone.

"So how are you doing this evening?" I said. "Probably a lot better that I am right now, huh?"

He actually let out a small bark. It made me laugh a little.

"Tell me about it. You're probably wondering why I'm out here sulking on the porch. I know you're not, but let's pretend, shall we?" I sighed and then continued. "I don't know what's going on with my parents. I don't want to believe that they're bad people, but I found out some things that doesn't look so good. I'm sure that it's just circumstantial stuff, but I don't know. I don't know what to believe anymore. I need to hear it from their mouths that it's all going to be okay." I then let out a nervous laugh. "What am I doing? I must be going crazy or something. I'm explaining my problems to a stray dog. You probably can't understand a word I'm saying, can you?"

I was totally unprepared when the dog, yes, the _dog,_ actually _spoke. _"Oh, I don't know. I can understand English quite well, and I'm sure we've all done something crazy one time or another."

_Author's note: In case you haven't figured it out, Stephen and Veronica are the names of Jessica's parents. And as for the dates in the diary entries, I came up with a timeline after doing some research. Apparently, the Incredibles is a highly stylized version of the 60s and 70s. Assuming that the SRP Act happened just after the dates Edna mentioned as the days some supers died, that would probably mean that the year was either 1959 or 1960. I settled on 1960, which means that fifteen years later 1975 would be the year in the movie, and that means that twenty years later, my story takes place in 1995. Wow, that looks confusing, but I tried to explain it the best that I could. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and keep reviewing, reviews are what keeps this story going, especially the good ones. See ya'll later! _


	4. Possible Allies

_Authors note: Oh, come on, people! I put up four chapters of my hard work and still only have four reviews? Jeez, does my story really suck that bad? You people are making me feel kinda disappointed here. In fact, I might not upload any new chapters until I receive at least a few good reviews, if anything to see that you still want me to continue on with this story. Okay, enough of my rant, here's the next chapter. _

**Chapter 4**

If I could probably have seen the look on my own face at that moment, it would probably be a mix of shock, amazement, fear, and maybe all of the other words in between. I shot up off the porch and actually backed up a couple of steps. No, I did _NOT _just hear a golden retriever speak to me. That was way beyond impossible. I figured that the stress of the last hour had finally gotten to me. Maybe I really was going crazy or something. Was it even possible for a 14-year-old girl to have a nervous breakdown?

The dog, or whatever he was, let out a small laugh. "Okay, you can close your mouth now. It's open so wide a jumbo jet can fly into it."

It took a while before I finally remembered how to speak again. "You…y-you can talk! That's impossible! Dogs can't talk!"

He chuckled again. "Well, normally they can't, but you see me talking to you right now, don't you? You see my mouth moving, don't you?"

"Who, or what, are you?" I asked. "Are you like the Wonder Dog or something?"

"Oh, please! Wonder Dog's got nothin' on me!"

"Well, come on!" I nearly shouted. "Tell me!"

He sighed. "Okay, okay! Jeez, there's no need to shout. The fact is, I'm not a dog at all. I'm human just like you, and I'm a super just like you as well."

I was astonished. "So you're a super in disguise? That's…" Then I remembered what else he said. "Wait a minute. How do you know that I'm a super? Are you the person that called me earlier?"

He shook his head. "No, that was someone else."

"Alright, you better start explaining what's going on here!" I demanded. "Tell me how you know about me right now!"

"Wow, you sure have some attitude. Anyway, if you're a super you can't exactly hide it. Rumors get out, you know. In your case, it was a rumor of you burning a certain class bully's cheek."

Now I was really astonished. I had to sit back down on the porch. It just felt like my world was going to pieces. Apparently, my effort to hide my true self had all been in vain. How did this rumor come out? I think that I already knew the answer to that question. I remembered the rumor that went around school that Chris Andrews burned his cheek while cooking food and then how he moved away afterward. What exactly happened during that time? Was the whole thing somehow covered up?

"Look," he said. "If it makes you feel any better, as far as I know there are only four people that know about you, and we're all supers. There's you, me, my _so-called partner in crime_, and…"

"Hey, I heard that!" a voice yelled from somewhere around us.

I again jumped up onto my feet and looked around. I didn't see where the voice came from. "Hey, who said that?" I asked out loud.

My new dog friend sighed. "That would be my so-called partner in crime."

"You know, that really hurts, man," the voice came again. "I thought we were friends."

"Okay, that's enough. You can stop hiding now."

Just then, it seemed like part of the scenery just to the left of us began to shimmer and distort. That continued for a second more before suddenly a person was standing in its place. He was wearing a black, grey and white camouflage suit with black boots and gloves. A black mask was covering his eyes. He had dark blond hair. As far I could tell, he wasn't that much older than I was.

"Who are you?" I asked him.

"I'm known as the Chameleon," he answered.

I raised an eyebrow." The…Chameleon?"

"The Chameleon." he repeated.

"The _Chameleon?_"

"Yes, _the Chameleon_." He was starting to sound annoyed. "Do you have a hearing problem or something?"

I started to laugh. I couldn't help it. "I'm sorry," I said in between laughs. "I just can't picture someone wearing a camouflage super suit and calling themselves the Chameleon."

He frowned. "Well, _some _people like it."

"And which people are those?" his partner asked.

"The ones that don't care too much for names, that's who. Isn't that right, _Changeling?_"

"Changeling?" I asked the dog. "Your name is Changeling?" Wow, that was even worse than the Chameleon.

He groaned. "Actually, it's _the _Changeling, officially."

I shook my head and chuckled. These two supers were really giving me a good laugh, despite of all that was going on. I really needed one at that point. Still, I definitely recognized the voice of the Chameleon as the one on the phone. I also never even heard of them before. Even if they were good supers, I knew that I had to be cautious around them. I also had to know what they were capable of.

"So, your super names are the Chameleon and the Changeling," I said. "What exactly can you two do?"

"Well," Chameleon said. "I have the ability to blend into environments like a, well, chameleon. I don't actually turn invisible if that's what you're thinking. I could still be seen if I make sudden movements and if someone really looked at me close enough. It works best when I'm in a dark place."

I was impressed. "That sounds kind of neat."

"Well," he hesitated. "It can be at times, but sometimes it can be a little disappointing."

"What's so disappointing about that?" I asked him.

He sighed. "It's probably the fact that I can't turn completely invisible, you know, like Ultraviolet. It still has its uses, though."

I then turned to the Changeling. "And what about you? What are your powers?"

"You're pretty much seeing it," he told me. "I have the ability to turn into any animal…"

He suddenly began to change right before my eyes. First, his golden fur began to blur and change into all sorts of colors. Then all of his legs began to grow longer until he began to stand on his hind ones. He began to change into a person, although I couldn't tell what person just yet. When he finally finished changing, I was totally shocked by what was standing in front of me. He had transformed into an exact duplicate of _me_! Same red hair, same blue eyes, even the same clothes I were wearing at that moment. He (or she? Man, this was so freaky!) smiled at me.

"…or any person," he finished with exactly my voice!

Seeing someone change into a complete duplicate of yourself was bad enough, but when you hear that same duplicate talk to you in your own voice, it was a million times worse. It was also amazing how different your voice sounds when you hear it from another perspective. It was like when you record your voice and then play it back. You then wonder, _'Is that how I really sound like?' _That was basically how I was feeling at that moment.

"Well?" he asked me. "What do you think?"

When I didn't say anything, the Chameleon answered for me. "I think that she's a little freaked out, that's what."

"It's not the first time that happens."

I walked around the Changeling, studying him closely. I still couldn't believe what I was actually seeing. As I said, he was a perfect duplicate of me. No one would be able to tell us apart even if their life depended on it. In a way, I now knew what it felt like to have a twin.

"How can you do that?" I asked.

"It's easy," he said. "I have the ability to change my form to duplicate any living animal, and that includes humans. Before I could do that, I would need a sample of their DNA."

"DNA?" I asked.

"Yeah, you know. Deoxyribose nucleic acid. The building blocks of all life here on Earth. It's something you learn in science class…"

"I know what DNA is," I interrupted. "Get to the point already."

"Alright, the point is that I can absorb another living being's DNA into my own molecular structure and store it there. I can then become that same living being anytime I want. With you, I was able to collect your DNA when I touched your knee with my snout during my dog form. Oh, and don't worry, I can't absorb another super's powers along with it. That kinda sucks."

"To me that's a relief," I said. "And about touching me, if I had known it was you, a DNA sample isn't all you would've gotten from me."

He snickered a little. "Did I ever tell you that you have a bad attitude?"

"Yeah, you did." I was really starting to get annoyed with him still in my own form and speaking to me in my own voice. "Thanks for the demonstration. You think you can change into something else now, preferably your true self?"

"Why? I kinda like it in this form. Besides, it's not often that I'm in a girl form."

"Do it, Changeling," Chameleon told him.

He sighed. "Okay, fine. You're both spoilsports, you know that?"

He then began to change his form. I watched as my features began to melt and distort until they were unrecognizable. It was almost sick to look at, and I didn't know if I could ever get used to looking at something like that. Luckily it didn't last long, because he began to reform quickly. When it was all done, he was now a teenage boy wearing an almost totally dark green super suit. His boots, gloves, and mask were a dark gray color. Like the Chameleon, he also had dark blonde hair. He seemed to be the same age that I was. In fact, I thought I knew who he was.

"Is that better now?" he asked me.

"Yes, very much," I told him. "I know you, don't I? You're that boy in my homeroom that came in late today. Chance Harding, isn't it?"

"Shh! Not so loud, will you?" he silenced me. His face was now a deep red color. "Jeez, are you trying to tell the whole neighborhood or something? Yeah, that's my real name. How'd you know?"

"Call it a lucky guess," I said.

He chuckled. "Yeah, a real lucky guess, I suppose."

Chameleon chuckled as well. "Well, I guess I better tell you my real name before you guess that also. It's Leon Harding. We are, kinda like we said earlier, the so-called _brothers _in crime. Not literally in crime, of course. If you hadn't guessed already, I'm the person that called you earlier."

"I already had," I told him. "Speaking of which, I think it's time we discuss what's going on here."

"Yes, it is," Chameleon agreed. "I would prefer it if we didn't talk about it here. We already took a huge risk revealing ourselves to you right here. Let's go to the park at the end of the street. It should be deserted at this time anyway."

"Are you sure?" I asked hesitantly.

"Well, you do want to hear what we think is going to happen, don't you?"

"Of course I do." I looked back at the house for a moment, then I started to walk. "Come on, let's go."

Together we started to walk toward the park. The sun had long since set and the bright streetlights were lighting up the streets. People were already inside their homes at that point. It was probably a great thing. There's nothing like seeing two teen supers flanking a normally dressed teen walking down the street that would end up drawing out the neighborhood and start asking questions. I don't think that any of us wanted or needed that type of attention right then.

"So, how long have you two been fighting crime?" I asked them.

"Do you want the honest answer to that?" Chameleon asked back.

I grimaced. "Uh, oh. Something tells me that I'm not going to like the answer."

"That depends." He cleared his throat. "Well, we have yet to face any supervillian, and let's hope that good luck holds. We haven't even fought against any regular villain. We have settled some…disputes, though."

I looked at him in amazement. "That's _it_? You've never faced another villain?"

"Hey, give us a break here," he said defensively. "We're still kinda new to the scene. You've never heard of us before, right? I've only been doing this for nearly a year now. My brother only started last month."

"I'm sorry," I apologized. "I just assumed that…"

"Say no more," he interrupted. "It's an honest mistake. I know that soon we'll have no choice but to face some villain, but by then we'll be ready."

"Are you two like a sibling team or maybe a family team, kind of like the Incredibles?" I asked.

"Not really," Changeling said. "Both of our parents aren't even supers. We got our powers from our grandparents, and of course, they're both retired and now living in sunny Arizona. I mean, we would like to be a team, but one, we can barely stand each other, and two, we don't have a name."

"How about the Brothers-In-Arms?" I suggested.

"That was one of our first choices," Chameleon said. "We didn't like it. It just didn't sound right. We would like to have a name that would strike fear into the hearts of our enemies. Also, I don't think that we'll make a truly awesome team with just the two of us and the powers that we have."

"What are you talking about? You two have great powers. You can hide in plain sight and your brother can change into all kinds of different animals and people. I don't know about you, but I don't know of any other super that can do either of those."

Chameleon snickered under his breath. "You're just saying that to make us feel better. Your power is probably much cooler than ours. We don't know exactly what it is, but it sounds like it involves fire. Think of what you can do if you joined us…"

"No!" I said loudly. "I vowed never to use my powers again. They're just too dangerous. If you knew about me, then you should've known that."

"No, we didn't know that. What happened that made you this way? Are those rumors really true?"

"I really don't want to talk about it," I told him. "Let's just drop it at that, okay?"

He opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it. We walked the rest of the way to the park in silence. My two super companions didn't know it, but at that moment I envied them. In fact, if I could I would love to be able to trade my powers with either one of them. I was certain that they would be able to handle my destructive powers far more than I ever could. Their powers couldn't kill, well, maybe the Changeling could turn into any animal that could eat a person, but at least he could control that. There was no way I could control mine, or maybe I could, but I wasn't willing to try. Between the two, I thought that the Chameleon's power was the best, probably because it reminded me so much of my childhood idol, Ultraviolet. Don't get me wrong, I thought that the Changeling's power was cool as well, but I think that I was still freaked out when he turned into a perfect duplicate of me.

A few minutes later, we reached the park. It was quiet and deserted, just as we hoped that it would be. We went over to the picnic area and sat down at one of the table.

"Okay, we're here," I said. "_Now _will one of you explain what's going on?"

Chameleon looked around to see if anyone was there, then he started talking in a low voice. "Okay, we heard a rumor that there's something huge going on at ATI. From what I hear, a lot of advanced military and weapons technology had begun to disappear from ATI's main storage depot outside of town. We're talking about the high end, cutting edge, and extremely destructive stuff. This had been going on for nearly a month now. Not only that, a few of ATI's top researchers had been mysteriously transferred to an unknown location."

"Wouldn't the government know something about this?" I asked.

"I don't think they even know what's really going on. It's all being hidden quite well. Whatever's happening, it's being done by professionals."

I found this quite hard to believe. However, I had to know where my dad fit into all this.. "What does all this have to do with my dad?"

"Your dad is one of the heads in the Department of Research and Development at ATI, right?" I nodded. "Well, most of the stuff that went missing he helped design and build. That's why I said that your dad might be involved and not even know it."

"I'm not quite so sure," I said slowly. "I found something in my dad's diary that doesn't look good."

"What do you mean?" Chameleon asked.

I hesitated, then said, "It said in his diary that he's working on a top secret project and that he had to install a new system on it by order of some guy named Harriman."

"Harriman?" Changeling said. "That could mean John Harriman, the CEO."

"Yeah, could be," Chameleon agreed.

"I gotta know," I said. "How did you hear about this rumor?"

"We were contacted by a woman who works there about a week ago," Chameleon explained. "She's also among one of the higher-ups at ATI, but not in the same department as your father. She's also a super just like us, but she hasn't done any super work in five years because of her career. She's doing her own investigation at the company, but she requests that you investigate your father."

This was getting more confusing by the second. "Why me?" I asked. "And why did she contact you to contact me?"

"She knows quite a lot about us," he said. "She knows that you and Chance are in the same homeroom. I think her plan is for you to find out about your dad so you could tell Chance, then he could tell me, then I could tell her when she calls."

"Do you even know who this woman is?"

"I've never met her, I think. I know that I heard her voice from somewhere, though. I can't remember where."

"I'm sorry to break up this little party," Changeling cut in, looking up from his watch. "It's getting real late and we have to get going. Our parents will be home soon."

I then remembered my own parents. "Oh, wow, my own parents are probably wondering where I went. They're probably thinking I've walked around the entire city."

Chameleon stood up. "Okay, folks, the meeting's adjourned. Remember what we discussed here. This is extremely important."

"You don't have to worry about that," I told him.

He looked at me for a moment, then said, "Do you mind if I tell you something?"

"Not at all."

"I'm going to have to be blunt here. If what we know is really true, it sounds like the shit is about to hit the fan in this city. As far as I know, we might be the only supers that know that something might happen. If that's the case, then you'll have to be ready to use your power."

"What?" I said in surprise. "But I can't…"

"It won't matter that you don't want to use them. You might not have any choice _but_ to use them. It most likely won't be a question of if, but when. I just want you to be ready when that time comes."

He just couldn't understand the nature of my powers. "No, you don't understand. They're too dangerous for me to unleash. I swore that I would never use them again for any reason, and I plan to stick to that forever."

He sighed. "Okay, then. Just don't say that I didn't warn you. Come on, Changeling, let's go home."

I watched as they slowly walked away from me. I watched as the Chameleon disappeared and the Changeling transformed back into his golden retriever form. I sighed heavily and started my own slow walk towards home. I was once again highly upset, but I didn't exactly what I was upset at, nor did I care. I just seemed like my entire world changed so much between yesterday and today. It seemed like I didn't know who or what I could trust anymore. All I really knew was that somehow I had been dragged into a potentially dangerous plot and didn't even know it until it was too late.

_Author's note: Remember, no new chapters until I receive a few good reviews._


	5. Late Night Discussions

_Author's note: Okay, okay, I yield. The masses have spoken, and I have listened. I'll no longer hold any more chapters "hostage". I wasn't exactly in the best of moods that day anyway. I'm glad that there are people who love this story very much, and that inspires me to write more than anything. Thanks again, and enjoy this "recently freed" chapter._

**Chapter 5**

On any other given day it would take me just ten minutes to walk from the park at the end of my street to my house. That time it took me just over a half hour. I was walking slower than a snail, but I didn't really care. My mind was on other things at that moment. Mostly, it was the things that the Chameleon and the Changeling told me at the park. What exactly was the technology that was being stolen from the ATI storage depot? How much of it was being stolen? Who was stealing it, and for what purpose? Exactly how much did my dad help develop that technology? And probably the most important question of all, who exactly was this mysterious woman? Why was she contacting us? Did she know my father or vice versa? Did _I _know her, for that matter? The Chameleon did say that she's a super, but hadn't done any super work in five years. That wasn't very uncommon, as supers had been known to go long stretches without doing any work. They did have lives outside of being supers, after all. Whatever was going on, something was telling me that I was going to find out the answers to all those questions real soon.

I was also thinking about what the Chameleon said to me at the end of our conversation. I might have to be forced to use my powers in the coming days. The very thought of that terrified me more than the possible danger to the city itself. I knew that I could never use them even if anyone's life depended on it, and that included my own. It seemed to now be hardwired into my brain that they were extremely dangerous. I admit though that there were a few times that I really thought about the true nature of my powers. I heard that there was the rumor that a super's power was largely based on their personality. I guess that's somewhat true with me because I have been known to have a fiery temper a few times, especially when I was younger. I always thought that it was funny when my uncle from Centralia used to say that my temper was as red and fiery as my hair. I had long since calmed down but I have been known to have a few emotional outbursts now and then.

All that aside, I actually wondered if my ability to fly was just as dangerous as shooting fireballs from my hands. I eventually decided that it was not and the only real casualty would be the clothes I would be wearing at that time. Of course, there was the chance of me running into some bird or, as my unfortunate luck would have it, flying into some airplane and causing it to crash, but those possibilities were so remote that they really weren't worth thinking about. Not only that, I still didn't know if I really would burn my clothes off if I flew. All I knew was that my body produced some heat when I moved through the air and that was it. I still didn't know how high or fast I could fly, how hot my body would actually get when I flew, or even if I could really fly at all. I knew I could at least hover, and the best distance I've flown was about five feet before I crashed into the fence, and that was only because of an ill timed sneeze. It would almost seem like any little sneeze or a gust of wind would send me out of control. It was almost like my flying ability was as dangerous to myself as it was to another person. In the end, though, all that didn't matter. That rainy day four years ago completely changed my thoughts on my powers. Maybe, just maybe, if that day never happened I might have thought a little differently on my powers. Nowadays I couldn't even dream of using them without thinking about that day. I was praying that the day I would be forced to use my powers would never come.

I was so lost in thought that I didn't even realize that I made it home until I saw that I was standing in front of my door. I must've been walking on autopilot because I don't think I was really paying any attention when I left the park. I opened the door and went inside. I don't think I've gotten more than three steps before my mother appeared in front of me.

"Where have you been?" she asked. "I thought that you were going to get some fresh air."

"I did," I told her. "I went down to the park."

Mom seemed confused. "You went all the way to the park just to get some fresh air?"

"The park's not that far from here, Mom. Besides, I needed to clear my head of some thoughts."

"What thoughts were those?" she asked.

"I don't want to talk about it," I told her.

She stayed quiet for a moment before she said, "Come into the living room with me."

"Mom, I really…" I started to protest.

"Right now, Jessica," she said sternly.

I really didn't want to talk about anything at that moment. All I really wanted to do was go into my room and lay down on my bed in peace. By the tone of my mom's voice, however, I didn't seem to have a choice in this matter. I followed her into the living room. She sat down on the couch while I took a seat in one of the chairs.

"What's going on, Jessica?" she asked. "Tell me the truth."

As much as I wanted to tell her something, somehow I couldn't make my mouth form any words. I thought that it was so stupid. Not more than a half hour ago I was talking almost in length to a couple of complete strangers in a deserted park about a possible threat to the city, but now I couldn't even talk to my own mother about anything. In fact, it seemed like I could talk to anyone else but my parents. I knew that it had to be upsetting them just as much as it was for me. I knew that it was probably because I hid so much from them over the past four years. It more than likely became so much of a habit that I couldn't really say anything to them anymore.

"Well?" she prodded.

I knew that I had to say something to her, so I just said, "Nothing's going on."

"Don't tell me, 'Nothing's going on,' young lady," she scolded. "I don't want to hear anything like that from you." She sighed and then continued. "I'm really having a hard time trying to figure you out right now, Jessica. Your dad and I both are. It's so obvious that something's deeply bothering you. I just can't understand why you seem to be so unwilling to talk to us about it. Are we really that intimidating to you? Jessica, we're your parents for crying out loud. You know you can always talk to us about your problems. So talk to me right now, Jessica. Tell me what's going on with you."

"I told you, there's nothing wrong with me," I said, my voice slightly wavering.

"I thought I told you I didn't want to hear that." She sighed again. "You're making this more difficult for yourself. What's going on with you? You used to talk to us all the time about all sorts of things and now it seems like you can't say more than twenty or so words to us in any given day. Did something terrible happen to you? If you could just tell me what's going on with you, then maybe we both can help you."

"There is nothing going on with me." I was starting to get real agitated, although I didn't really know why.

"Jessica…" my mom started to say, but that was all she got out.

I don't really know what happened, but it was at that moment that I completely lost it and my fiery temper that I mentioned earlier and thought that I've gotten rid of came roaring back. I shot up out of the chair and exploded at her. _"There is nothing going on with me! Do you hear me? There is nothing wrong with me! Why can't you get that? Why can't you just leave me ALONE!"_

After my outburst I just stood there trembling. Mom was staring at me with wide eyes and her mouth slightly open. I think that she was in total shock. I knew that I was as well. I never screamed at her like that. I didn't even know why I did it just then. I felt tears began to build in my eyes.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. "I'm sorry. I just…" I trailed off as the tears began to roll down my cheeks.

Mom got up and hugged me tightly. "It's okay," she said softly. "I'm sorry, too. I didn't mean to push you so hard like that."

Dad came into the room just then. "Is everything alright in here?" he asked. "I thought I heard some yelling."

"Everything's fine, honey," Mom told him.

He didn't seem so convinced. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. Everything's alright now."

Dad left the living room. Mom continued to comfort me for a few minutes until I was finally able to calm down. During most of that time I was able to clear my head of all thoughts. I decided that bad person or no bad person, my mother was still my mother, and I loved her very much. It was obvious that she loved me just as much. I knew that no matter what happened, nothing in the world would change that.

"Are you better now?" she asked me after the long silence.

"I'm fine." I told her.

Mom then sat back down on the couch and motioned me to sit with her. "Here, come sit next to me." When I did she then asked, "Jessica, does this have anything to do with puberty?"

I raised an eyebrow in surprise. Puberty? Is that what she thought all this was about? Well, as long as she thought that and nothing else…"Yeah, I think so."

Mom smiled a little. "I thought so. You seem to have all the signs. This is a difficult time for any teenager. The stress levels, the raging hormones, the huge mood swings…"

'_Oh, God,' _I thought. _'Please don't be talking to me about the birds and the bees right now.'_

"Mom," I said before she really got going. "I understand what you're trying to say and all, but do you think that this can wait for another day? I'm really stressed out right now."

"Okay, then," she said. "It can wait. I have to go finish up the laundry anyway. Dinner's waiting for you on the table." She got up but then turned to me and said, "I'm glad we had this talk, Jessica. Feel free to talk to me again when you're ready."

"I will, thanks," I told her. She then left toward the laundry room.

My stomach growled just then. I must've been really hungry. I got up from the couch and went into the kitchen. There was a plate of pork chops and vegetables sitting on the table for me. I sat down at the table and started to eat. Once again my mind began to drift and again I started thinking about all that was going on. I tried to think of all I learned that day and see if I connect them together, but I came up with nothing. None of it still made any sense. It was probably also because I was getting tired as well. It was closing in on ten o'clock, and it was pretty much time for me to start getting ready to go to bed. Besides, maybe it would be easier for me to think better with a fresh mind.

When I finished my dinner, I cleaned up my plate and then went into the bathroom to freshen myself up a little. When I was done I went into my room and started to change. The moment I finished changing into my pajamas, my phone started to ring. I went over to it and picked it up.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Hey, Jessica." It was the Chameleon.

"Chameleon? Why are you calling me? How'd you even get this number to begin with?"

He groaned a little. "First off, can you please call me Leon right now? I'm not in my suit and I really don't like people using my super name then. Second, let's just say that Chance and I have been doing a little investigating on you."

"You mean, you've been spying on me, haven't you _Leon_?" I accused.

"No, not exactly. Like I said, a little investigating, that's all."

I actually growled under my breath. "You know, I'm really starting not to like you two. That's almost an invasion of my privacy."

"No, it's not," he said. "We just wanted your phone number, you know, to contact you in an emergency or something."

I really wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone at that moment. "Well, it seems like you have my phone number without my knowing so, and you have contacted me at a very bad time, and unless this is some sort of emergency, I'm about to hang up here in the next three seconds."

"Wait, don't hang up. I do have something to say. It may not be an emergency, but it is something important. Do you still want to hear it?"

I was ready to hang up the phone just then, but my curiosity got the better of me. With a heavy sigh I said, "Okay, Leon. Let's hear this important info of yours."

"I knew you would," he said with a chuckle. "If there's one thing I know about people, it's that they're always curious about something. Well, that and…"

"Just tell me what this info is already!" I said loudly. "It's getting real late and I'm really tired."

"Okay, okay. My brother's right, you _do _have a bad attitude."

"It's a family trait, I guess," I told him. "Just get on with it."

"Anyway, Chance has been doing some more investigating into the theft of all that stuff at ATI. Apparently, he came up with something interesting. Has your dad ever mentioned to you or made any reference to a project codenamed Etybonan?"

'_Ety…what?' _I thought. What did he just say? "Project what?"

"Project Etybonan," he repeated.

"Project Etybonan?"

He laughed a little. "You know, Jessica, you sure have a knack for repeating words that I say. Yes, for the hundredth time, _Etybonan_."

I was very confused. I never heard of a word that sounded even close to that before. "Is that even an English word?" I asked.

"Who knows. I never even heard of that word before Chance mentioned it to me, and he doesn't even know what it means. I tell you, that's one strange sounding word."

"Tell me about it," I agreed. "It almost sounds like something you would hear on Star Trek or some show like that. You think that woman would know what that word means?"

"Probably more than likely," he said. "The only problem is that we haven't heard from her in a little while, so we can't ask her what that means. We'll just have to wait until she contacts us again, if she ever does, that is."

That last bit caught me by surprise. "What do you mean by that? You're not saying that she may have been found out, are you?"

He sighed. "She did tell us that she's taking a huge chance doing this and there's a great risk that she'll get caught. I don't think that she did get caught, but we might have to consider the possibility."

"I hope not. It seems like we need her help if we're ever going to get to the bottom of this." I then thought of something at that moment. "This woman, other than knowing that she's a super, do you have any clues about what she actually looks like?"

"No, I don't know what she actually looks like. All she ever told us was that she's one of the higher ups at ATI and a super that hasn't done that job in five years. The only real clue that we have about her is that both Chance and I recognize her voice and that's it. We still don't know who she is."

I sighed. "Well, that's kind of disappointing."

"Yeah, disappointing, but understandable. I mean, I don't think you and I would reveal ourselves to anyone just yet if we were in her position, right?"

"Yeah, I suppose." I then noticed that my clock said that it was getting close to eleven o'clock now. "Listen, I gotta go. It's getting real late and we have school tomorrow."

"Yeah, you're right. Anyway, see if you can learn anymore on this Project Etybonan, okay? We'll keep in touch."

"Alright, I'll try to see what I can find. By the way Leon, I'd appreciate it if you don't call me this late next time unless it's a real emergency, okay?"

He laughed. "I'll try to remember, but no promises. Talk to you later, then."

"Okay, see ya."

I hung up the phone and lay back down on my bed. I stared up at the ceiling and thought about what this Project Etybonan could be. I then remembered that Dad mentioned in his diary that he was working on a secret project. Could that be what it was? I only thought about that for a moment before my phone rang again. I groaned loudly. Thinking it was Leon calling me back, I picked up the phone ready to chew him out.

"Hey, I thought I told you not to call me at this time unless it was a real emergency," I said.

"Well, I guess it's however you perceive it to be, Jess. Besides, you've never told me that."

"Allison!" I was very glad that she couldn't see how red my face got.

"Uh, yeah, it's me. I don't know of anyone else that'll call you on your phone and also be named Allison Kim. What was that all about, anyway?"

"Oh, um, it's nothing. Allison, now is not really the best time…"

"It sure didn't sound like nothing to me," she interrupted. "C'mon, tell me."

I sighed. "Alright, I was talking to someone."

"Someone?" I could hear the smile on her face. "Who was it?"

"Just someone. I told him not to call me unless it was an emergency."

"Him?" She started giggling loudly. "Oooh, Jessica Wells, you little sneaker. You went out and got yourself a boyfriend and never told me, didn't you?"

"_What!" _I shouted. "No! God, Allison, what _is _it with you and boyfriends lately?"

"It's like they say, Jess, it's never too early to prepare. So who were you talking to, then."

"Um, just my little cousin from out of town," I lied. "I told him that he could call me anytime except at this time of night. Speaking of which, what did you want? Make it fast, because I'm really starting to crash here."

"Well, I just wanted to know if you wanted to go to the mall after school tomorrow," she said.

I thought about it for a moment before replying, "Sure, I guess so."

"Okay, cool. I'll see you tomorrow then. By the way, Jess?"

"What is it?"

"You sure you don't have a secret boyfriend?" She started laughing.

"Shut up and go to sleep," I grumbled. "Talk to you tomorrow."

I had just up the phone for the second time in just a few minutes when someone knocked on my door. I wanted to scream in frustration. _'God, what is this, Everyone-Talk-to-Jessica Hour?_' I thought.

"Yes?" I answered.

The door opened and Dad stepped in. "Hi, honey," he said.

"Hi, Dad," I said. "What is it?"

He came over to me. "I just wanted to see how you were doing before you went to bed. You and your mother had a talk earlier, right?"

"We did," I told him. "I'm alright now."

"I'm glad to hear it. I just wanted to know that. I'll leave you now so you can go to bed." He leaned over and kissed my forehead. "Good night, Jess."

"Good night, Dad." He had just started to leave my room when I called him. "Dad?"

He turned around. "Yes?"

"Um, I would really like for us to have our own little talk, if that's alright with you."

"Of course it is. You didn't even have to ask. I'll always be there for you, no matter what. We'll talk whenever you want to, okay?"

"That'll be great. Thanks, Dad."

He left the room and once again I lay back down in my bed. It was funny, but I was half expecting my mother to come in at any moment. It seemed like everyone else wanted to talk to me at that time. When she didn't come, I relaxed some more and settled into my bed and figured that I just might get enough sleep for tomorrow. As I closed my eyes I thought about what a huge and complicated day this was and was ready to get it over with. I figured that tomorrow couldn't possibly be as bad as today was. We shall see. I eventually settled into a nice deep sleep.


	6. Trouble Starts

_Author's note: Sorry it took so long to update. I've been busy these days as well as having a slight case of, gasp, writer's block. I'd like to thank you people for reading my story, and I'd especially like to thank Spindle Berry, Mystical Pools of Serenity, and Celtic Giggolo for reviewing! Now, onto the next chapter._

**Chapter 6**

The morning after what could only be described as the strangest and possibly most incredible day of my life started almost the same way. My insanely loud alarm clock dragged me out of a great sleep, only this time I managed to find the off button instead of knocking the whole clock off my nightstand. I muttered incoherently that maybe it was time to buy a new clock, one that didn't try to wake up the whole city. I wasn't ready to get up yet. I figured that I had at least ten minutes that I could spare, so I just lay there with my eyes still closed while my brain was slowly waking up. I remembered through a deep fog that I had to look into something, but I couldn't figure out what it was just yet. It was right there on the edge of the fog. I had to wait for it to clear before I could try to see if I could remember. Just then my phone rang. I muttered again and reached over and picked it up.

"Hi, Allison," I groaned. "Yes, I'm awake."

"Hey, how did you know it was me?" she asked.

"Who else calls me this early in the morning?"

"I don't know, maybe your little cousin from out of town." She chuckled.

"Shut up, Allison," I muttered.

"My, aren't we a little cranky this morning."

"We? I didn't know _we _shared the same body. Besides, you know that I'm not a morning person, unlike _someone _I know very well."

"Well, what can you say, Jess. Some of us are born to be morning rays. Other people are better off being night owls."

"I'm not a night owl, either. I fall somewhere in the middle."

"The middle, huh? So what would that make you, more of a morning owl or a night ray?"

I groaned loudly. "Neither. I was thinking more along the lines of afternoon dweller."

It was her turn to groan loudly. "Afternoon dweller, Jess? Man, that's weak. The afternoon is the most boring time of the day. Of course, that might just suit someone like you."

Despite still being not fully awake yet, I actually shot up a little bit off the bed. "What? What's that supposed to mean, Ms. Bright-and-Early-Morning-Ray?"

She laughed. "Oh, it's nothing. Wow, you get so riled up sometimes, you know that? Anyway, speaking of afternoon, I'm wondering if we're still on for going to the mall later on today."

I forgot about that. I tend to forget some things when I sleep. "What? Oh, yeah, sure."

"You didn't forget about that, did you? We talked about that last night."

"Of course I didn't forget," I lied. "Why would I?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever you say, Jess. Now that you're up, I guess it's time for me to get ready. See you soon." With that she hung up.

I sighed and shook my head. Why was she always calling me this early in the morning? Wasn't there something better she could do at this time? Wasn't there someone else that she could bother with her sickening cheerfulness, someone like her bratty little six-year-old brother Alex? Maybe she was making sure to finish the job that my alarm started. She knew that I was very slow getting up every morning. It was getting well beyond annoying. I was seriously going to talk to her about this. Better yet, maybe I could return the favor and call her up really early on a school day, maybe something like three in the morning. I snickered to myself with that thought. See how she likes that little wake up call. What goes around comes around.

I sat up in my bed and stretched and yawned loudly. It was just after six thirty in the morning. Sunlight was streaming in through my window blinds and barely lighting up my room. I could smell the breakfast my mother was cooking. I knew that it was time for me to start getting ready for school. I stood up, stretched again, and went over to my dresser. I picked out the clothes I would wear that day and then went to the bathroom to take a shower. After I took my shower I dressed and brushed my teeth. When I was finished I went downstairs to eat. I was a little surprised to see just my mom sitting there at the table watching the morning news. Dad was nowhere in sight.

"Morning, Jessica," she said.

"Hi," I said back. "Where's Dad?"

"He was called to work very early this morning. He said that they need him to finish up a project."

Project? Now I remembered. Leon wanted me to see if I could find any information on a Project…Project…what was it? I couldn't remember the name. I did say that I had a tendency to forget things at night. It was right on the edge of my mind. It was a real hard name to say. Project Ety…something or another. Whatever the name was, it definitely sounded important enough that Leon would call me late at night just to tell me that. I had to remember to ask Chance to tell me what the name was again when I saw him in homeroom.

"Did he say what type of project he was working on?" I asked Mom.

"No, he didn't," she replied. "It had to be important enough for him to go to work at four in the morning. I can't even remember the last time he had to go in early at all. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, just curious," I told her.

She looked at me for a little bit longer before turning back to the news. I figured that I shouldn't push my luck any more. I went to the refrigerator and pulled out the orange juice. After I poured myself a glass I joined Mom at the table to eat breakfast. We sat there in silence for a little while before she spoke.

"Are you feeling better?" she asked.

"What?" I asked in confusion.

"You did say yesterday that you were under a lot of stress," she told me. "I was just asking if you were feeling better this morning."

"Oh, yeah. I'm feeling a little better. I think I just needed some sleep, that's all."

"That's good to hear, honey. Too much stress isn't good for anybody. Are you still sure you don't want to talk to me about it?"

"Not right now," I told her. "Maybe later."

We didn't talk anyone as I ate my breakfast. I began to wonder what type of project my dad was working on at that moment. Was it related to the project that Leon told me about last night? Was it even related to what was going on as a whole? And for crying out loud, what was its name? It seemed to be taunting me just out of reach. It was almost driving me crazy. I knew that the answer was with Dad, but I just simply couldn't ask him about anything like this. I really wished that it was that simple, but it definitely looked like I had to find out this information the hard way. I only wished that I knew what the hard way was at that moment.

While I was thinking that, I also noticed something strange. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that my mother kept glancing over at me with this weird look. I knew that look all too well. It was the one she reserved for when she was really thinking about something. The conversation from last night drifted to the forefront of my brain. Was she really thinking about me? What exactly was she thinking about with me? Could she have actually seen through my lies I told her last night? I doubted it somewhat, as she did seem relieved when I told her that my current problems were caused by puberty. Then again, my mother did have a tendency to really think about things that she's curious about. I knew for a long time and even before I knew that I was a super that she did seem curious about me at times. In fact, I was still surprised that she hadn't picked up on the inadvertent clues that I left behind and put them together. Maybe she had all along. It was real hard to understand my mother most of the time. Like my dad, I just couldn't ask her what she really thought about me, and again, I really wished that it was that simple.

I had just finished up my breakfast and washed my dishes when Allison knocked on the door. I went over to the door and opened it. There she was with her usual cheerfulness. That was one thing that I could never understand about her. How can she always be so cheerful all the time? She was like this when we met way back in kindergarten. Sure, there were a few times where she did get upset, and even fewer times where she got full blown angry, but most of the time she was just one happy person. Most of the time I find myself wondering how we could still be best friends for all these years. We were almost polar opposites. She was always happy, I was almost always unhappy. I was a somewhat clean and organized person, she was a somewhat messy and disorganized person. You get the idea. I don't think that I'm lying when I say that Allison Kim was the strangest girl you could ever meet. Then again, she might say the same thing about me.

"Hey, Jess," she greeted. "How are you this morning?"

"How do you think I'm feeling?" I said back.

She sighed. "You look like complete crap, that's what I'm thinking. You need to lighten up and have some fun. That's precisely why I want you to come with me to the mall today."

"Mall?" Mom asked. "Did I miss something, Jessica?"

"Oh, yeah," I said quietly. "Allison wanted me to go with her to the mall today, if that's okay with you."

"Of course it is," she said with a smile. "In fact, I think it'll be perfect for you. You can have some fun and relieve some of that stress you've been under."

Allison giggled. "Stress? Oh, yeah, she seems to have been under a lot of stress lately."

"I am _not _under stress!" I said loudly. "Why do you two think that I'm under a lot of stress? I'm perfectly fine."

"You know, Jess, _denial _is not just a river in Egypt," Allison told me.

Was it really that obvious that I seemed to be under a lot of stress? I mean, sure the events of yesterday might've caused me some stress, but I was almost certain that I didn't look like I was ready to explode over the past few weeks. I was fine, or was I? I really wished that they didn't put that thought into my mind. That was something else that I was going to be thinking about the rest of that day.

"Okay, let's leave poor Jessica alone," Mom said. "Besides, it's time to take you two to school."

We all left the house and climbed into Mom's SUV. We pulled out of the driveway and left for the five minute ride to school. It was a very quiet ride, the way I preferred it to be. None of us talked during the ride, and I didn't do any more thinking. When we arrived at school, I felt ready enough to try to survive the second day of being a freshman.

"Have a nice day at school, you two," Mom said to us as we got out.

"I hope," I said quietly to myself.

"Did you say something, Jess?" Mom asked me.

"No, I didn't say anything," I said quickly.

When she drove away Allison said, "Alright Jess, talk."

"Excuse me?" I asked her.

She sighed. "I've known you for what, nine years now. You might be able to fool your parents, but you can't fool me. I've known you long enough to know when something's really eating you up. Care to tell me about it?"

'_Not this again!' _I thought.

"God, not you, too!" I shouted. "Why is everyone riding my case about this? Maybe I don't want to talk about it right now! I mean, jeez, I don't go around asking everyone else what's eating them up! I don't ask you why you keep calling me so damn early in the morning, Allison! I don't ask you why you're always so damn cheerful! Do you know how annoying that is? Maybe I just want to be left alone about this, alright? I just need everyone to back off and give me some space! Is that just too much to ask?"

She stared at me and stayed quiet for a moment before she said somewhat angrily, "Well, _excuse me _for wanting to be a friend and help you out! You want to be left alone, fine! I'll see you after school then, maybe!" With that she started walking away from me and toward the entrance of the school.

What was happening with me? I couldn't believe what I just did, again! First I explode at my mother and now my best friend! What was I turning into, some kind of monster? I was never like this before. Maybe I really under a lot of stress. I ran after Allison and caught up with her just before she reached the entrance.

"Allison, wait," I said, grabbing her arm and turning her around to face me. "I'm sorry for yelling at you like that. I don't know what got into me."

"Apparently something had," she said with a little anger still left in her voice.

I flinched at that, but continued talking. "Maybe both of you are right. Maybe I have been under a lot of pressure lately. I snapped at my mom last night also. I don't know why I'm acting like this. Can you forgive me?"

She just stood there for a moment before a smile spread across her face. "You know, Jess, it's impossible to stay mad at you for longer than thirty seconds. Yeah, I forgive you, I guess."

I chuckled. "You _guess? _Man, you're just so impossible sometimes."

"That's the way I am, and speaking of which." She folded her arms across her chest and stared at me. "Do you really think I'm that annoying to you?" I knew that she wasn't upset with me over that. In fact, she seemed quite amused.

"Uh-oh," I stuttered. "Um, I…I plead the Fifth." I laughed with that.

"Oh, no you don't! You're not slipping out of this that easily." She also laughed and then said, "Oh, alright, I'll stop calling you early in the morning. However, that now means that I'll be twice as annoying to you the rest of the day. See how you can handle that."

I mockingly gasped. "You wouldn't dare!"

She grinned evilly. "Oh, believe me, I would. Just try me. If you don't believe me, you could always ask my brother Alex. I'm sure he'll tell you just how annoying I can be."

We both were laughing quite heavily at that point. As I said before, she had this certain way of making me laugh even if I really didn't want to. I felt like I needed to laugh at that point, though. I've always heard that laughing was an excellent stress reliever. Strange as she might be, I was lucky to have a friend like Allison.

"Seriously, though," she said once we were done laughing. "I know that you don't want to talk about it, but can you at least give me a hint of what's going on?"

I looked at her for a long time before I finally said, "It's something that you wouldn't understand."

"Try me," she replied.

"I'm serious," I told her. "It's too complicated to explain. Before you ask, it has nothing to do with a future boyfriend or anything to do with puberty."

She raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Puberty? What does that have anything to do with…"

"Don't ask," I interrupted. "All I can say is that I don't really want to talk about it right now. Maybe once I can clear my head up and rationalize all this I'll finally tell you. Deal?" I held out my hand to her.

She took my hand and we shook on it. "Deal."

Just then the five minute bell rang. I didn't realize that we spent that much time talking to each other.

"Oh, man, I gotta go," Allison said. "I'm going to lucky to make it to homeroom on time from here. See you later." With that she began to hurry toward her homeroom.

I had to get going as well. Even though I had a shorter distance to go than Allison, my homeroom, or for a better saying, '_hell_room', was on the second floor. The only way to get there was by a stairwell already overcrowded by a slow moving mass of students. Like Allison, I needed luck to make it to homeroom on time. I remembered what happened to Chance yesterday when he came in late. I definitely didn't want risk breaking Mr. Schmidt's 'non-negotiable' rule of being late myself. Man, what a stupid set of rules.

Luck was definitely on my side, as I made it to homeroom with a minute to spare. Once again, there he was with his head buried in his newspaper. I found myself wondering what he was reading that was so interesting. I guess that there was something in the world that he liked, other than torturing students and treating us like we were in boot camp. I know that it was an unfair judgment of him. I know that I wouldn't like anyone making any conclusions of me based on my personality, although I'm sure some people done that already. I couldn't help it, though. Based on his personality yesterday and my dad's story, Mr. Schmidt seemed to have the telltale 'screw-the-world' attitude.

As I sat down at my seat, I noticed that Chance wasn't in the room yet. I didn't think much of it. He was more than likely going to be late again. I knew that I would pity him if he had to endure the wrath of Mr. Schmidt again. As the final bell rang and he still hadn't come in, my mind began to wonder. I noticed that I've been doing a lot of thinking lately, probably more in these two days than in a whole year. I began to wonder if he was actually coming to school today. I wondered what was going on. I was certain that he wasn't sick as he seemed perfectly fine yesterday. Then again, I really didn't know him that well outside of him being a super. I began to think more about this project that they told me about, the one that I still couldn't figure out the name of. It was still right there just out of arm's reach. If I only had some kind of clue, then I might be able to remember. Was this project the reason that he wasn't here today? I knew that it was a totally stupid reason. There were probably hundreds of reasons why he wasn't here. Somehow, though, the project was at the forefront of my mind.

Suddenly, a large hand slammed down loudly onto my desk, breaking me out of my thoughts. Gulping, I looked up into Mr. Schmidt's red face. "Are you here today, Ms. Wells?" he asked in a somewhat nasty voice.

"Uh, yes," I stuttered.

"And what do you say when you're here and I call your name, Ms. Wells?"

"Um, present?" I painfully noticed how high pitched my voice was.

He shook his head and muttered something under his breath. I couldn't tell what it was. He then said, "You know, maybe if you paid a little attention in my homeroom, Ms. Wells, you might actually pass it this year instead of daydreaming about it. Consider this a warning."

As he walked away, I could hear a few of the other students snickering under their breath. God, how my face was burning with embarrassment! I couldn't even begin to imagine the color of my cheeks to match the burning! Oh, yeah, it's only funny unless it happens to you. My early opinion of him came racing back. Torturer of students, indeed! He probably went to bed at night dreaming up new ways to humiliate us. I also hated the way he called me Ms. Wells. My name was Jessica or Jess, or maybe even Jessie as my aunt from out of town calls me, but not Ms. Wells. I actually wondered if he knew that I was the daughter of one of his 'troubled' students from years past. Man, I hoped not. I'd probably never hear the end of it from him.

Fortunately, the rest of homeroom went smoothly. Mr. Schmidt gave us our locker numbers and combinations. Other than that, the rest of homeroom was just as quiet as yesterday. When the bell for first period finally rang, it was once again a mad scramble for the door. I figured that I had to get used to that since that would basically be the tone for the rest of my freshman year.

Later on in the day when it was time for lunch, I went to my newly assigned locker to throw my backpack inside before I went down to the cafeteria. I didn't exactly trust to carry it with me to the cafeteria, especially since a little prank that happened back in junior high, but I won't explain what it was. I fumbled around with the lock pad while holding the slip of paper that held the combination. When I had the right combination the lock clicked open and I pulled it off and opened the door. Immediately I noticed a folded up piece of paper sitting on the floor of the locker. I frowned a little. Weren't they supposed to clean out lockers before giving them to other students? Thinking that it was some sort of love letter to someone else and curious about it, I picked it up and opened it.

_**Jessica, **_

_**I can't write this for long. Anyway, we haven't found any more info on Project Etybonan other than it seems to be related to all that's going on. Hope you had more luck on your end. We'll call you later.**_

_**Leon**_

_Etybonan! That's _what the name of it was! I knew that it started with Ety, but I didn't know the rest. At first I thanked Leon for helping me remember, but then I realized how he'd done it. How did he how that this was my locker? I didn't even know that this was my locker until this morning and since then I've only opened it up twice, once this morning to try it out and just now. I knew that there was no letter the first time I opened it, so he had to have put it in there later on. I frowned as I began to get upset. Wasn't spying on me, huh? What excuse was he going to have for this one? _'It's not spying, Jess. I just needed to find out the number of your locker to leave secret notes, that's all.' _ Before long, he might know my daily routine better than I do. This was going to stop, right now. I was going to make sure he knew that one way of another.

My stomach growled loudly then, reminding me that it was lunchtime, so I threw my backpack into the locker and closed it, stuffed the note into my pocket, and headed down to the cafeteria. However, I almost lost my appetite when I saw what they were serving us. A beef patty that probably could've passed off better a rubber chew toy and topped with watery looking gravy, potatoes that looked more like a ball of wax, and a bread roll that probably went down as hard as it looked. At least the vegetables looked decent enough, and I was certain that the milk and juice weren't rancid. How could they get away with feeding us this slop? It was almost criminal. In fact, I bet that they served better food in _prison _than in school. I was really hungry, though, so it was going to have to do.

I went over to an empty table and sat down. As I ate I took out the note and read it. I studied the word Etybonan real closely. I just didn't know what it was. As I said before, I never even heard of that word before. It was probably one of those weird sounding scientific names that you hear about once in a while. Yet, somehow, as I studied it a little more, it was like I didn't know the word but in some way knew it. Doesn't make much sense? Join the club. It was probably a word that I've heard before and just forgot about it, but I honestly thought that I've never heard it before.

Just then someone came up to my table and sat down. I looked up and saw that it was Allison. "Is this seat taken?" she asked.

"It is now," I told her.

"So, how is your day going so far?" she asked.

I groaned. "Well, despite the fact that I got chewed out by Attila the Hun this morning, everything's just fine. How about yourself?"

"Same here," he said. "As for Attila the Hun, you know nothing of that until you meet my gym teacher, Mr. Franklin. I swear that they've hired that guy right out the army or something. Hey, what are you reading there?"

She noticed what I had been reading. I quickly put it back into my pocket. "It's nothing," I said quickly. "Just some notes."

"Notes? You seemed to have put it away quickly to be just notes. Are you…"

I silenced her right there. "Oh, no! Don't you say it, Allison. Don't even think it."

"Okay, okay. I won't say anything."

I then thought of something. It was kind of risky, but I thought that a little more help might not hurt. "Let me see a pen and a piece of paper," I said.

When she did I wrote down the word Etybonan on it and then handed it back to her. "You think you can help me find out what this word means?" I asked her.

She looked at the word and almost immediately a look of confusion came across her face. She even turned it upside down and then back again. "Etybonan? What kind of word is that?"

I shrugged. "Beats me. I never heard of it. It is important that I find out the meaning of it, though. Can you help me with this?"

"Well, I'm not sure how much help I can be, but I'll try to find out what it means."

"Thanks," I told her.

We ate and chatted for a little while before the five minute bell rang. We stood up and threw away our trays. We then walked out of the cafeteria and to our separate classrooms.

Just before we parted I said to Allison, "About that word, I'd appreciate it if you don't mention it to anyone else. Still, I'd like for you to help me find out what it means."

"Sure, the word's safe with me," she replied. "I'll see what I can find out, but no guarantees. See you after school." With that we parted ways.

When school finally ended, I was happy to get out. We now had the weekend to recover from our first two days of high school. I met Allison just outside of the front doors, but we didn't have any time to talk. This time Mom was waiting for us in the parking lot instead of being late like yesterday. We went over to the truck and climbed inside.

"Hey, girls," she greeted. "This time I left fifteen minutes early to avoid the traffic. So, you two have a good day at school today?"

"It went better than yesterday," I told her.

"Same here," Allison said.

"The first day at a new school is always the hardest," Mom told us. "After that it would usually go a lot easier."

"Hopefully," I said.

As we pulled out of the parking lot, Mom said, "You know, if you two would like, I could take you home to drop off your stuff before taking you to the mall."

I looked back at Allison and she shrugged. "It's fine with us," I told Mom.

Once we dropped our backpacks off at both of our homes, we were on our way to the Westville Regional Megamall. Some people might call it the ultimate shopaholic's paradise. Other people, mainly the NIMBY crowd, call it the ultimate expression of suburban shopping sprawl hell. A massive building filled to capacity with all types of stores, restaurants, its own First MetroBank bank branch, a huge arcade center, an indoor go-cart racetrack, and a multiplex theater surrounded on all sides by acres upon acres of parking lots. Rumor has it that it has its own zip code. Allison and I usually don't come out this far, but both she and Mom agreed after we left my house that I needed to go somewhere special. I had to agree with them. There was no other mall in the entire Metroville metropolitan area like it. So after nearly a half hour long drive, we pulled into the parking lot of the sprawling complex and up to one of the entrances. Allison and I got out of the truck.

"Have fun," Mom told us. "Just give me a call when you need a ride." She then drove away.

"So what's our budget?" I asked Allison.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out some money. "Let's see. I've been saving up my allowance for a while, so I have…" she counted up her money, "forty seven dollars and fifty eight cents. How about you?"

I counted up my own money, although I already knew that I didn't have as much as she did. "Twenty two dollars and eighty seven cents," I answered.

"So that gives us about…seventy dollars and twenty five cents to blow," she said. "What do you want to do first?"

I thought for a moment before I said, "I actually feel like playing a few games at GameWorld first before we do any real shopping."

"That's the plan, then," she said. "Let's go."

We went inside the mall and made our way to GameWorld. It was the huge arcade center I've mentioned earlier. Two full levels of games of all kinds from air hockey to the newest arcade games. I've rarely been there, mainly because, as I said, we had little reason to come out this far from home. Luckily there weren't that many people there when we entered GameWorld so that meant no long lines at any of our favorite games. We quickly decided on Virtua Racing to play first. We slid into the two player booth, put in the money, and started playing. We actually had a great race and kept neck-to-neck during most of it, but then Allison wrecked her car in the final laps and I ended up winning.

"Hey, you cheated!" she complained when the race was over.

"It wasn't my fault that you crashed into the wall," I told her.

"You bumped me into that wall."

"No, I didn't. I wasn't even that close to you."

"Yes, you did. You were that close to me."

I sighed. "Whatever, Allison. You want a rematch?"

"Of course, but first I have to go to the restroom." She got out of the booth. "Save my seat for me." She then left.

I shook my head and laughed to myself. That was one thing about Allison and video games. It was never her fault if she loses. She would always have these lame excuses as to why she lost. Something like, 'The light was in my eyes!', or, 'That noise startled me!', or like today, 'You made me crash into that wall!'. Bumped her into the wall, she said. Yeah, right! Maybe one of the other computer controlled cars bumped her, but it definitely wasn't me.

Almost immediately after she left, someone climbed into the booth. I started to say, "Hey, this seat's tak…" I stopped when I saw that it was none other than Leon. I definitely recognized him without his mask just by the style of his hair. "_You? _What are you doing here? You _are _spying on me, aren't you?"

"Well, hello to you, too," he said. "No, I'm not spying on you. Chance and I are doing some shopping."

"All the way out here in Westville?" I said with some surprise.

"Seriously, we are," he told me. "This is one of the best places around the area to shop at, you know."

"Then why did you follow me into GameWorld?" I asked him.

"I did not follow you," he said. "Jeez, you are so paranoid, Jess. I was already here when you and your friend came in."

"I'm having a real hard time believing you," I told him. "What about the note you left in my locker. You're telling me that weren't _spying _in me then?"

He sighed deeply. "Okay, I admit, I was around when you tested out your locker this morning. I just wanted to find out if you knew anything more on the project."

"No, I still don't know anything just yet," I said. "I want you to know this, though. _Stop spying on me! _I said that I'll help you a little on this, but I don't need you following me around like some bloodhound. Just give me some room and some privacy, will you?"

"For the last time, I'm not spying on you!" he said defensively. "All we just want is…"

He never finished as suddenly there a loud crash from somewhere in the mall, almost like a thousand windows breaking. Almost immediately there came what sounded like some weird kind of weapons fire and then people screaming and running. Leon and I both looked out of the entrance and then at each other. We didn't need words to tell each other that we agreed that something very bad was going on inside the mall right then.

So much for today not being near as bad as yesterday.


	7. Mall Brawl

_Author's note: Sorry for the extremely long wait. My computer's power supply shorted out at the end of last month. I'm still baffled as to how that happened. Anyway, I finally got a new one so I'm back up again. Another thing, you guys will never know how hard it was to write this one chapter. I kept having ideas, rejecting some and then coming up with new ideas. Hopefully, you guys will like the end result. One last thing, I would like to extend my condolences to the victims of Hurricane Katrina and pray that no one here on this site was affected by it. With that, enjoy this chapter and keep reviewing!_

**Chapter 7**

It was like I said in the very beginning, fate has a strange and almost terrifying way to catch up with you when you least expect it to. I don't know exactly where I've heard that saying before, although I knew that I was still a little girl at the time. I admit that I've never really believed in that saying until right that moment, and even then it seemed unreal. I was nowhere near ready to face it, as I wasn't even expecting to at all. Not only that, why did it have to choose that day out of all others? This wasn't fair! This was supposed to be my day of relaxation and fun, a day that was to relieve all the stress that built up from yesterday. Now it sounded like there was a small war going on inside the mall. It seemed to be a good distance away from GameWorld, but I could definitely tell that there was more than one shooter. It sounded like the shots were coming from the direction of the First MetroBank branch. The bank was on the level above and almost on the other side of the mall from where we were. It also seemed like everyone in the entire mall, including the employees, were making a scramble for the exits. GameWorld was also emptying out quickly. To say that I was terrified myself would've probably been an immense understatement. However, I still thought clearly enough to know that we had to get out of there as well, but I just couldn't leave Allison behind.

"What is that?" I asked, my voice shaking with fear. "What's going on?"

"Sounds like something really bad, that's what," Leon said, grabbing my hand and pulling me out of the game booth. "Come on, let's get out of here."

"Wait," I protested, trying to tug my hand away. "I can't just leave Allison here by herself. She's still in the bathroom."

"We can't stay here," he told me as he pulled me toward the doors. "It sounds like they're coming this way. We have to go now. Let's hope that your friend Allison stays safe."

With that he dragged me out of GameWorld and out into the main corridor. By that time it seemed like our area of the mall was already largely deserted. There were still a few more people running past us. Strangely enough, I didn't see any mall security guards anywhere. What happened to them? Did they bail out themselves? Did they try to stop the shooters? Were they all dead? I knew that we would be dead as well if we kept staying out there in the open. There were still a few shots being fired, and unless it was my imagination, they were definitely coming in this direction. We had to get out of sight, fast. At the same time, though, I just couldn't believe that we were abandoning Allison like this. I desperately wanted to go back and get her, but I knew that doing so might mean all of our deaths. As much as I hated to say it to myself, and I _really _did, believe me, Allison was going to have to fend for herself. I looked back at GameWorld and said a quick prayer for her.

Still holding my hand tightly, Leon led me to Victoria's Clothing Boutique, a clothing store a little ways down the corridor from GameWorld. The store was deserted as we went inside. We went past the clothing racks and toward the dressing rooms in the back. We hid in one of the rooms and only then did he finally let go of my hand. I was kind of surprised that he led me here instead of the exits, but I don't think that I was in the state of mind to question him right then. Even though I was fairly certain that the shooters wouldn't be targeting this particular store, I was still very scared and was trying desperately to quiet my thumping heart and shallow breaths.

"Do you think they'll find us in here?" I asked Leon quietly.

"I hope not," he answered just as quietly. "I need to contact Chance and see if he's okay."

"Contact Chance?" I asked. "How are you going to do that? How do you even know that he's still inside the mall?"

"He should be," he told me. "I doubt that he'd just up and leave without me." He raised his left arm to his face, pressed a blue button on his watch, and spoke into it. "Hey, Chance, you there? Come back."

He had a wristwatch walkie-talkie. I've heard that some supers wore those watches to communicate with other supers. Many ordinary people wanted those watches as well, and that included me at one time. They weren't available for public, though, because they contained top secret technology that only supers can use.

"Yeah, I'm here," Chance's voice came from the watch. "Where are you at?"

"I'm hiding out at Victoria's Clothing Boutique. I'm here with Jess."

"Jess?" He sounded surprised. "She's here in this mall?"

I pulled Leon's arm toward me and spoke into the watch. "Yeah, I'm here in the mall. Your brother's been spying on me again. Speaking of being somewhere, though, how come you weren't in homeroom today." I really don't know why I said something like that, especially at a time like that. It was probably because my nerves were already so on edge that I just needed some way to relieve them.

"I overslept," he said. "I have a problem of doing that sometimes."

Leon yanked his arm back. "Yeah, you do," he said to Chance. "Anyway, what's your location?"

"I'm up here by Electronic Outlet. I've got a clear view of the suspects from here. Don't worry, I'm in disguise. Anyway, there are four of them. They came in through the skylight over the food court and went immediately toward First MetroBank. They already robbed it and are now just going after random stores. There's something strange about the way they're dressed, though. I don't know what it is. What do you want to do?"

Leon seemed to think long and hard before he finally answered, "Stay there and watch. If they come anywhere near Electronic Outlet, you get out of there. I'm coming up there in a few minutes."

"Okay, although I doubt that they'll even see me in the form that I'm in right now. See you up here."

What did he mean by going up there? It took only a moment more before my eyes widened and my mouth dropped open in shock. He couldn't be! He wasn't actually thinking…

"You're not actually thinking about taking them on, are you?" I asked him.

"Well," he hesitated a little. "Hopefully not, but I might…"

"Are you out of your damn frickin' _mind?_" I almost shouted at him, but I caught myself and remained quiet. "You'll get killed!"

"No need to overreact," he told me. "Besides, I wasn't planning on getting myself killed. I just plan on doing some recon, that's all."

"It's still too dangerous," I argued. "We shouldn't get involved in this. We should get out of here while we still can."

"Look," he said with some anger in his voice. "You may deny that you're a super, but I know that I am one, and as a super I have a duty to…"

"You're a super that hasn't gone up against any villain!" Now I really was shouting, and I didn't care. I had to get it through his pea-sized brain that this was no game and that he could die if he was caught. "You told me that yourself! I don't know about you, but to me that sounds like you're not exactly an expert in dealing with something like this! We should just leave this to the professionals and go!"

"I appreciate your concern," he said, "but the longer we stand here and argue, the better chance they have at getting away. I have to stop them from escaping. Now, you think you can give me some room here? Even thought I'm wearing my suit under my clothes, I still don't feel comfortable stripping any clothing off in front of a girl."

I started to argue again, but closed my mouth. I knew that it wasn't worth wasting any more breath trying to reason with him. If he wanted to go on this suicide mission, it was fine with me, but I hope that he wasn't expecting me to back him up, because there was no way I was going to. I was getting out of here, with or without him.

"Okay, fine. _Fine!_" I told him as I got out of the dressing room. "Go ahead and get yourself killed! See if I care! Don't expect any help from me, though! You're on your own on this!"

"I wasn't expecting your help to begin with," he said from the room.

A few moments later he came out of the dressing room all suited up except for his mask that he was holding in his hand. For a moment, I wondered how he was able to hide the sleeves of his suit under the short sleeve shirt that he was wearing, but then I figured that he had them rolled up under his shirt. Still, I thought that he was extremely stupid for doing this.

"You are free to go if you want," he told me. "No one's stopping you."

"You're really crazy for doing this, you know that?" I told him.

"Maybe I am," he said back as he put on his mask. "Then again, maybe deep down we're all crazy. Well, here goes nothing."

He then began to shimmer and slowly turn transparent. In a matter of moments he was invisible, well, almost invisible. He was right; I could definitely make out his silhouette. It looked like some kind of ghost image in the air. Of course, I was looking right at him and saw him change, so that was how I noticed him. If I hadn't paid any attention, I would've never have seen him. He started moving toward the exit. I noticed how images in front of him were distorted slightly as he moved. It had to be due to his camouflage effect. It was almost freaky looking, but again, it was only slightly noticeable if you were looking directly at him.

"I'm serious," I said to him as he left. "I'm absolutely _not _coming to your aid, so don't even think about it."

He didn't reply back. Now left alone in the store, I sighed and shook my head. He had to be without doubt the most arrogant, pigheaded, just outright insane person I've ever met. I really wanted to try to smack some sense into him, but I held myself back. It was a very mean thought, but I was hoping that if I couldn't do it, then the robbers would do it for me. I mean, he was really asking for it. But even with all my anger toward him at that moment, I still hoped that he would be alright. I wasn't a totally heartless person.

I knew that it was now or never if I wanted to get out of there. I took a few deep breaths to try to calm my nerves, but that didn't help much. I was going to have to make due. But even though I wanted to escape with my skin, mainly my life, still intact, I knew that I couldn't leave unless I was sure that Allison was safe. That meant that I had to go back to GameWorld and risk being seen. I wasn't looking forward to it, in fact, I was really terrified to go anywhere in the mall but to the exits, but I knew that it was something that had to be done. I slowly crept from the back of the store and toward the door, keeping my ears open for even the slightest noise. I haven't heard any noise in a while, but that didn't mean that they left. They were probably in another part of the mall. Of course, they could've just been outside in the corridor waiting to ambush any unfortunate person that poked their head out of one of the stores. I was going to have to take that chance.

When I reached the exit, I went down on my hands and knees. I figured that I had a less of a chance of being seen if I remained close to the floor. I hesitated for a long moment, then finally inched my head out of the store. To my relief, the corridor was empty. You know, it's a very strange and eerie sight to see the mall deserted like that at this time of day. I mean, I've been to malls at all times of the day, and that included late nights and early mornings, and even on the slowest of days I have yet to see any of them _completely _empty, let alone one of the largest malls in the country. Any other day I might've gotten a small thrill out of this and did some crazy and maybe even naughty things, but now the only thing that I wanted to do was get out.

I knew that I was wasting too much time, so I stood up and got ready to move. Before I did, though, I removed my shoes to minimize the sound of my footsteps. I slowly then walked slowly out of the store. I only walked a couple of steps before I stopped. Looking down to my right was the exit out of the mall. The sun was shining through the doors, illumining them like a beacon to safety, which basically what they were at that moment. In fact, it was already drawing me toward it like a moth to the flame. However, I immediately stopped when I looked back to my left. There was GameWorld just a few stores down from where I was, where Allison probably was. I then remembered that my first priority was to see if she was still there before I left. I put my back against the wall and then moved slowly along it toward GameWorld. I was extremely tense and ready to bolt to the exit at any moment. When I made it to the arcade, I ran inside as quickly and quietly as I could. It was still empty, and I slightly relaxed. I immediately went to the ladies restroom and went inside.

"Allison, are you in here?" I asked silently.

There was no answer. The restroom was empty. I was relieved that she got out, and now it was my turn. I went to the entrance and listened carefully. When I didn't hear anything, I again leaned against the wall and moved toward the doors. It definitely looked like I was home free and would make it out of the mall alive. Unfortunately, things always seem to go against you right at that very moment. When I was literally within arms reach of the doors, I heard a distant voice from somewhere on the second floor.

"Look out! He's a super! Get him!"

Immediately after that yell came a few bursts of gunfire. I felt my blood freeze solid. However, the shots stopped almost as quickly. The voice came again.

"Where is he? I can't find him!"

"There he is, behind you!" another voice said.

There came the sound of what sounded like a huge plank of wood breaking and then a loud shatter, almost like a huge window breaking. A few more shots rang out, and then I heard more of what I knew were fighting sounds. I couldn't believe what I was hearing! Was Leon really taking on four gun-wielding robbers by himself right then? I thought that he was stupid before, but now I thought that he was outright suicidal. However, it wasn't my concern what he did with his own life, and started to move again. It was as I told him, I wanted no part in this.

I only moved one step before I stopped. It was right then that I started worrying and even getting scared, only it wasn't for myself, but for Leon. I couldn't believe that I was feeling like that toward him of all people, but I couldn't help it. I was that compassionate a person. I began to imagine what would happen if he was hurt, if he was shot and lying on the floor in a pool of his own blood and slowly dying. I tried to push those thoughts away, but they kept coming back. It was because that even though I knew that it wouldn't be my fault, if something bad would happen to Leon, I would still blame myself for it. I would blame myself that I should've argued with him more to try and change his mind, and if that didn't work, I probably would've had to knock him out and physically drag him out of the mall. Just the thought of blaming myself for his stupidity was making me incredibly angry at both of us. I was furious with him for practically throwing away his own life, and I was furious with myself for feeling some compassion for him and was almost to the point of going back to see if he was alright. That was definitely not going to happen. I would rather kill myself before taking on any kind of bad person, and I was going to get out of this mall before I did something I would definitely regret.

I placed my hand on the door and was ready to open it when again I stopped. What was I doing? Why was it so hard to just open up a door and run to safety? I knew the answer to that almost immediately. It was because I was still blaming myself for what Leon was doing. Not only that, I was seriously thinking about going back to see if he was okay. I just couldn't believe that I was thinking like that. I kept thinking to myself that I wasn't involved and whatever happened wouldn't be my fault, but the more I thought of it, the more it sounded less convincing. I was definitely involved, and I was still saying to myself that it was my fault that Leon was fighting criminals. This was insane! My brain, well, at least my sensible side, was screaming at me to get out and let the police handle this. The only problem was, what police? Looking out the door, I didn't see a since cruiser out in the parking lot. I was almost positive that the Westville police force had to have known what was going on at the mall. Of course, they could've been in another lot. Still, wouldn't they have had the entire mall surrounded? I'm sure they would've had enough cars to do it. Westville was one of the largest suburbs of Metroville after all. Even with that, it looked like for the time being, we were on our own.

I shook my head furiously at that thought. What did I mean _we?_ I was making it sound like I was helping out Leon. I was on the verge of driving myself crazy with these conflicting thoughts. I couldn't stay, but I couldn't go either. My feet seemed to be locked in place, and I began to suspect that the only way that they'll move is if I go back and see exactly what was happening. I knew that doing so would more than likely end up with me breaking my vow of never using my powers. I just couldn't take that chance with anyone, even if they were bad guys. Unfortunately, my body was screaming at me to do otherwise, almost to the point of completely overriding the better judgment from my brain. I knew then that I was really fighting a losing battle. There was no way that I could leave without knowing that Leon was okay. I was now not only angry, I was livid! I began to wish that he was alright just so I could break his neck with my own two hands when this was over. I then pounded my fist hard against the wall.

"God dammit!" I cursed. "What the hell am I doing?"

Very slowly and very reluctantly, I began to move away from the door, away from freedom, and back into the mall. While I was doing so, I began to think that I didn't need to break my vow. All I could do was just probably peek around a corner or something, see what was going on, and bolt out of there just as quickly. It seemed simple enough in practice, but I knew that it would only take just one little mistake to make it go completely wrong. Because of that, I was not willing to take any chances. One of those things meant concealing my identity. No, I wasn't going to fight them. It was just in case they did notice me I didn't want them to see who I was. How was I going to hide myself though? A solution came up, but I definitely didn't like it. I slowly went back to Victoria's Clothing Boutique. I went over to the winter clothing section and picked up a black ski mask. I ripped off the anti-theft tag so as to not set off the alarm and have the robbers rushing in. I then pulled the mask over my head. Before I go on, I will tell you that I am not, never have been, and never will be a shoplifter. Okay, one part of that isn't exactly true. I did at one time steal a pack of candy from a store, but I was five back then, so I didn't really know any better. I promised myself that I would return the mask back to the store when I was done. I still wasn't completely satisfied, so I chose a dark jacket and threw that on. I took a quick look in one of the mirrors and shook my head.

"I look like a bank robber myself," I muttered to myself.

I felt extremely guilty for doing this, but I wasn't willing to risk a chance of them identifying me. I wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible. I managed to leave the store without setting off the alarms. The only problem was that I didn't know exactly which direction to go. I hadn't heard a single sound in a long while. I figured that my best chance was to head to the food court which was in the middle of the mall. I slowly walked along the side of the corridor toward the food court, ready to duck into one of the stores if something came up and still cursing myself for doing something like this.

I eventually reached the area under the massive skylight, what was left of it anyway. More than half of it was gone and was now just a lot of shattered glass on the floor. The food court was directly above on the second level. So far I didn't hear anything, but I still kept up my guard. I slowly crept out, making sure not to step on any of the broken glass.

Just then I heard a window shatter and then a loud oomph. That was immediately followed by the sounds of a fistfight. It sounded like it was coming from just off to the side of the food court above me. I felt petrified with fear. I was completely out in the open. All that they had to do was look over the rail and see me just standing there. I couldn't quickly move away because I was surrounded by broken glass. My only real option for a quiet and quick getaway was…no, I couldn't do it. It was impossible. I had no real choice though. The fight now sounded like it was mere feet from the rail.

It was unbelievable, but it looked like I was about to break my vow of never using my powers again. Man, I _really _was going to break Leon's neck now.

It had been four years since I last hovered above the ground. I hoped that I could still remember how to do it. I should since it seemed to be a natural thing for me. In fact, it seemed to be a lot easier than I remembered, because right after I thought that, the yellow-white ghostly aura of fire appeared around my body. Watching the slowly dancing flames, I admit that it was kind of pretty to look at, although I absolutely hated doing it. I actually noticed little heat waves coming off the aura, which was strange because I couldn't feel any heat from it. At about the same time, my hair, at least the part of it still sticking out from under the mask, started to float around by itself. I then felt myself start to lift up off the floor. Okay, now all I had to do was float over the broken glass, land, then get away.

However, it was like I said before, things seem simple in practice, but can go totally wrong at the worst of times. I remembered right then that I still didn't know how to actually fly yet. As a result, I continued to float upward toward the food court, toward the action, with no real way to stop. I was now too high to fall back to the first floor without breaking something and probably getting severe cuts from the glass. I was really starting to panic then. When I reached the level of the food court, I grabbed the edge of the floor. It stopped my ascent, but now my head was above the level of the floor.

What I saw really amazed me. Leon really was fighting the robbers as the Chameleon, and was actually coming out on top! Three of the robbers lay sprawled out on the floor, broken glass and a broken plank of wood all around them, and he was busy punching and kicking the holy crap out of the last one. The robbers were wearing these weird looking dark gray suits with matching facemasks so I couldn't see their faces. I really had to admit, he was handling this situation very well, even though it was ill-advised to begin with. I was still very angry at him, though, for making me worry about him as well as forcing me to use my flight power to try to escape with little success. I figured that I would wait until he was done before climbing up over the rail. I then noticed that Chance wasn't around to help him. What happened to him? Was he hurt somewhere? Did he go to get help? I was going to have to find out when the fight was over.

Unfortunately, I then saw something that the Chameleon couldn't see. One of the robbers that he previously knocked out was starting to stir. He then saw the Chameleon, quickly got to his feet and started to draw some type of weapon from his waistband! I couldn't warn Chameleon without drawing attention to myself, but I knew that I had to do something. I couldn't let him get killed in the back. I only had seconds to think of what to do.

Right then my body decided it for me and said go before I could tell it no. Suddenly, my aura flashed white-hot and made this roaring sound almost exactly like a raging fire. I then shot up over the rail and raced toward the robber at an amazing speed. It was actually an incredible sensation, although I wasn't sure how I was doing it. All I knew was that the robber didn't see me until it was too late. We collided and I continued to carry him along for the ride for about another twenty feet before we slammed into a food cart. We both went down onto the floor hard while food and pieces of the cart landed around us. His weapon went sliding down the corridor well out of reach. I quickly noticed how extremely hot my clothing was. I think that they were within a couple of seconds of bursting into flames. However, that was the least of my worries as the robber quickly got up and looked at me.

"Shit!" he exclaimed. "It's another super!"

God, I was really in over my head now, but it was too late to do anything about it because I was about to be fighting for my life. The moment I got back on my feet, he charged at me. At that moment, the world around me seemed to slow down to a crawl. All my senses were in overdrive. I could see little details that I would've never have noticed before, I could hear my hard breathing as well as his own as if through a megaphone, and I could definitely smell certain things that I never would picked up. I think I was actually smelling the sweat that coming from under his suit. I quickly wondered if these were some type of super senses that activated if my life was in danger.

I didn't have any more time to think. When he reached me, he took a swing at me, but because of my senses I was easily able to dodge it. He threw another punch, and I dodged that as well. He grunted in frustration and threw multiple punches, all of which I dodged and ducked. I couldn't believe I was moving like that. I never fought before in my life except in video games, and now I was moving almost like a professional. I don't know if it was out of fear or just programmed into my super genes I think that I was actually starting to wear him out with all my dodging, although I think that I was getting a little weary myself. He stopped his attacks and backed away a little. We then began to circle and stare at each other.

"You're good, whoever you are," he said, "although your outfit leaves something to be desired. What's the matter, your tailor slacking off or something?"

"No, this is something of my own design," I told him. "Don't you have something better to do on the weekend other than robbing malls and ruining my day? Something like, I don't know, finding a _real _job?" I blinked when I said that. What was I trying to do, get myself killed intentionally?

"Hey, this _is _my real job, toots," he said._ Toots? _Oh, man, he was really starting to push it. My fear was starting to be replaced by anger. He continued on. "It's made even better with these new suits we got. You know, I really hate supers. You're all just nothing but over glorified, overdressed freaks of nature. You think you're better than everyone else just because you have powers. Someone needs to put you all in your place. It was a great time when you were banned, but I think that Syndrome had the right idea and we should've just killed you all and been done with it. Speaking of which, I think I will do the world a favor by killing me a couple of supers here right now."

I saw that he now had a knife in each hand and he then charged me again. This time when he swung the right knife toward my face, I grabbed his arm with my left hand. He then swung his other knife toward me as well and I grabbed that arm with my other hand. Almost immediately he let out a cry of pain and dropped his knifes. I saw then that my hands were glowing bright orange and little wisps of smoke were coming up from under them. I was burning him through his sleeves! Strangely, I didn't feel any remorse and felt kind of detached as I let him go but only to kick him in his stomach as hard as I could. When he doubled over in pain I then kicked him across his face. He fell down to the floor completely knocked out, but that didn't stop me. I was so furious with this robber for what he did and said, as well as with Leon for taking them on, making me worry about him, and in the end was forced to break my vow and use my powers, that I took it completely out on him. I started kicking at every part of his body as hard as I could. I was making these strange grunting noises with every kick. I didn't stop until the Chameleon grabbed me from behind and pulled me away.

"I think he's down for the count," he told me. "You know, that was kind of impressive, although I…"

He didn't finish as I broke out of his grasp and then slammed him up against the wall with my right arm across his neck. "You have exactly two seconds to explain to me what you were thinking taking on these people by yourself before I snap your neck," I told him in an eerily cold voice.

"I was thinking that I could beat them, that's what," he gasped out. "They weren't exactly tough. Also, there's something that you need to see. Do you think you can stop choking me now?"

I held him for a few more seconds before I sighed and let him go. He rubbed his neck. "Wow, and I thought that you had a bad temper before," he said. "Remind me to never piss you off. I thought that you weren't going to get involved. What made you change your mind?"

"I _didn't _change my mind," I told him. "I came back to see if you were alright, and then…" I stopped when I noticed movement to my left. Another robber was on his feet and was aiming his weapon at us. "Look out!"

I shoved the Chameleon out of the way and then reacted to the situation. My right arm shot out and I launched a bolt of fire at the robber. The fireball hit him square in his chest and he went flying back into a store window and breaking through it with a loud crash. My anger immediately drained away right then and was replaced by shock and fear. I knew in my mind that he had to be dead. This was what I had been fearing since that sad day, that I actually killed someone using my powers. I sank to my knees right then. Chameleon came over to me.

"Jess? Jess, are you alright?" he asked with worry in his voice.

"I…I…think I've killed him," I answered in a whisper.

"Look, just stay here," he told me. "I'll go check."

I watched him run over to the broken window and go through it. I was terrified about what he would find. Was that guy really dead? How badly did I burn him? My already ruined life was shattered even more. How was I ever going to get over this one? How was I ever going to explain this to my parents? How was I…

"He's not dead!"

Chameleon's voice broke though my thoughts. "What?"

"I said, he's not dead," he told me.

I was stunned by that. "He's not?"

"No, he's not. Come see for yourself."

He held his hand out and I took it. He pulled me up and together we went toward the shop and in through the broken window. We were in some shoe store. The robber landed right on one of the shelves. We went over to him. I could clearly see that he was still breathing. Not only that, his suit didn't seem to have a burn mark where the fireball hit. I was both very relieved and very amazed.

"See?" Chameleon said. "He's perfectly fine, although he'll definitely be sore when he wakes up. But here, take a look at this." He pulled up the robber's right arm and turned it so I could see the patch on his sleeve.

"ATI?" I was really shocked then.

"Yep, no doubt this is one of the things stolen from their storage depot. It looks to be some sort of combat suit. It's obviously fire resistant." He then scratched his head. "This doesn't make any sense, though."

"What doesn't?" I asked.

"All this," he told me. "I mean, from what I've heard, something very big is going to happen. Somehow, I don't think robbing a First MetroBank branch in a mall fits that category. What's the real point?"

I shrugged. "Beats me."

"I know. This is something different. Maybe if I…"

Just then we heard a click from behind us and a voice yell, "Don't move! Hands behind your head right now and turn around slowly!"

A bolt of cold fear shot throughout my body. We quickly put our hands behind our heads and slowly turned around. Standing there in front of us were the other two robbers that we thought were down and out. They were aiming machine guns at us. Man, how did we ever blunder this badly? This was something that I should've known from reading books and watching movies, always check your opponents to see if they were truly down. That mistake more than likely just cost us our lives.

"Step away from him!" one of them demanded.

We did as we were told. I didn't see any way out of this one. That was something else that I had been worried about, not only killing someone with my powers but also getting killed myself. I guessed that the only thing that I could really hope for at that moment was that it would be a quick and painless death.

"What are we going to do with them?" the other asked his partner.

"Shoot them, that's what," he answered.

Before they had the chance, though, a lightning bolt came from just outside the broken window and struck them both. They jolted and yelled in pain before they collapsed in a heap. The source of the bolt then came walking into the store. She was wearing her black, yellow, and white super suit with electric bolts going down her legs and arms. She has black boots and gloves. A stylized 'E' mostly in the shape of a lightning bolt was on the front of her suit. Finishing the look was a black helmet and visor that covered all of her head except for her nose and mouth. I knew who she was the moment she came into view. How could I not? She was one of my childhood idols.

"Electricia?" Chameleon asked.

"Yes," she answered. "Are you two alright?"

"I'm fine.," he told her.

"I'm fine, too," I said as well.

"Glad to hear it." She then pointed to Chameleon. "Check the last guy out in the food court and see if he's still out," she told him. "Restrain him if you can."

After he left, she then turned to me. She then surprised me by taking off her helmet. I was totally shocked by what I saw. I even took off my ski mask to confirm it. It was definitely the same shoulder length auburn hair and dark blue eyes. It couldn't be, but it was! It was my…

"_Mom!" _

My mother was Electricia! It was totally unbelievable! How could I never have known that? There was so much that I wanted to ask her right then! However, my happiness and amazement that she was Electricia as well as still being alive was immediately replaced by nervousness and even a little fear when she crossed her arms in front of her chest and glared at me with dark angry eyes. She was definitely not happy with me.

That was confirmed only a second later when she told me in a low angry voice, "Jessica Michelle Wells, you and I definitely need to talk."


	8. Confessions

_Author's note: Well, nothing more to say except that I'm glad to be getting reviews, even if they are few. That and expect longer times between updates as I get more and more busy. I won't have as much free time as I used to. Sorry. And to Celtic Giggolo, oh man! That really had to suck! How much did that set you back? I was worried that the same thing might've happened to my own computer. Thankfully, it didn't. I hope that nothing like that happens again. Anyway, enjoy and keep reviewing!_

**Chapter 8**

When I stole that pack of candy that I mentioned earlier and my mom found out about it three weeks later, I knew that I was in trouble. When I was eight and was playing a game of neighborhood baseball and accidentally hit the ball through a neighbor's window, I knew that I was in serious trouble. When I was nine and was playing superhero in the house and accidentally broke my dad's very rare Chinese vase, I knew that I was in extreme trouble. However, I knew without doubt that all those couldn't compare to the amount of trouble that I was in right then. By the look of my mother's posture and the glare in her eyes, I knew that I was more than likely going to be _nuked _when we got home. I also knew that she never called me by my full name unless she was incredibly angry at me. The last time she did that was when I broke the vase, so I knew that I definitely was going to get it later from her. No amount of excuses was going to get me out of this one. I was seriously dreading the moment that we stepped foot inside our home. I probably deserved it all though. I kept a huge secret from her for four years and she had to find out about it this way. I would probably be very angry myself if I was in her position.

"Where's Allison?" she asked.

"I don't know," I told her. "We got separated."

"Find her," she said, well, actually more like demanded. "I will be meeting you out in front of the mall in a few minutes. I expect you to be there when I do."

Oh yeah, she was seething mad, so I hurried out of the store as quickly as I could. I honestly don't think I've ever seen Mom so furious at me before. Even so, I was still shocked that my mother was in fact Electricia all this time, one of my two favorite supers from my childhood. I began to wonder how I never could have noticed it before. I then wondered if my mom was Electricia, then who was Dad. Prototron? Sky Hawk? Jack O'Lantern, for God's sake? Which one was he? Was he even a super at all? Talk about frustrating! I've spent a good deal of my life trying to find some type of evidence that my parents were supers, and I've never found so much as a trace. How was my mother able to hide it from me for fourteen years at least? She had to be excellent to do that. Then again, she was a super, and since supers have to hide their identities all the time, then I suppose that it wouldn't be that difficult for her.

I went over to the escalators and stepped on to ride back down to the first floor. I then heard someone run up behind me. I turned my head just enough to see that it was the Chameleon and then turned away quickly. If there is a word in the English vocabulary that describes the angriest a person could get at someone, that's how I started feeling right then. I clenched my fists and gritted my teeth. He was without doubt the last person on Earth that I wanted to see. Hell, at that moment I would rather have seen a _cockroach _before I saw him. I blamed him for all that happened. Fighting the strange robbers by himself, making me worry about him, and eventually be forced to fight and use my dangerous powers that I swore that I'd never use again just to save his worthless life. I was so enraged with him that I didn't know what I'd do to him if he came any closer. I was actually willing him away for his own safety, but unfortunately for him, he came a lot closer than what would probably have been the safe limit.

"Jess, hold up," he said. "Can we talk for a second?"

"No, we can't," I told him in a low and barely controlled voice. "Just go away and leave me alone."

"Look, Jess, I'm sorry for what happened," he said. "If you would just listen to me…"

He grabbed my shoulder lightly to try to stop me, but that was an almost fatal mistake as that totally set me off. In an uncontrollable bout of rage, I swung around and punched him in his face as hard as I could. He staggered back a little before he fell on his back. I didn't stop there, though. In a flash, I was on top of him with my left hand clutching his throat tightly and my right hand balled in a fist and was ready to pound his face in. I was panting heavily and was glaring daggers into his eyes. He was looking back at me with a little pain from the punch, but mostly in total shock. I knew that I wasn't thinking clearly, but I was in a zone of anger that I couldn't overcome at the moment.

"You don't listen to me very well, do you, _Leon?_" I growled through gritted teeth. "No, I don't give a _shit _who hears your real name! I said go away and leave me alone! Is that too hard for you to do? So why can't you do it, huh? Well, tell me, Leon!"

"Jess, get a hold of yourself," he choked out. "I said I'm sorry…"

"Sorry? What do you have to be sorry about? Sorry for wanting to take on those guys when I told you that it wasn't a good idea and that we should've gotten out of here? Sorry for being totally ignorant and doing it anyway? _Sorry for making me worry about you just enough to make me come back and see if you were alright?_ _Sorry for forcing me to save your life not once, but TWICE, by using my powers that I SWORE THAT I'D NEVER USE AGAIN IN MY LIFETIME? SORRY FOR US ALMOST BEING KILLED BY THOSE GUYS AND HAVING BEEN SAVED BY ELECTRICIA, WHO IS IN FACT MY MOTHER? SORRY THAT I'LL BE MORE THAN LIKELY BE GROUNDED UNTIL I'M TWENTY-ONE? WELL, WHICH ONE IS IT?_"

During my outburst my hand tightened even harder around his throat. His eyes were bulging out of his head, his face was reddening, and he was gasping for air. He was trying to pry my hand loose, but it was like an iron vise around his neck. It wasn't going to budge.

"You're…really…choking me," he gasped. "Let me go…please…"

"Why, so you would keep bothering me? So you can come up with even more stupid excuses? I told you to leave me alone, and I expect you to do it. That does not mean to keep pestering me. In fact, I want you to leave me alone for good. That means, no more leaving letters in my locker, no more calling me on my phone late at night, and _definitely no more spying on me across the Greater Metroville area!_ You and Chance can find out for yourselves about this Project Ety…Ety…"

"Etybonan?" he answered.

"_WHAT-THE-HELL-EVER!_ I don't care just how much danger this city's in, I want no part in this anymore! I just want to be left alone, and I swear if I even _feel _your eyes on me again, I'll do a lot worse to you than just punch and choke you, you hear me?"

Before he could say anything, we both heard a strange hissing sound and then I felt a little heat on my fist. I saw Leon's eyes immediately go wide with almost total panic. I then saw that my fist was not only glowing bright orange, but it looked like it was completely engulfed in flames! It was right then that the full impact of what I was doing hit me like a sledgehammer. Oh, God, what was I doing? I've gone completely insane! I was never this violent a person! Could I have been a violent person all this time, though? I remembered during my fight with the robber and how detached and almost emotionless I felt as I burned his arms through his sleeves and then knocking him out by kicking him and then was still kicking him on the ground. I probably would've killed him if Leon hadn't stopped me. And then what I was doing to Leon right at that moment. I was practically choking him to death and threatening to incinerate him at the same time! I knew that I was a dangerous person with a fiery temper, but just how violent could I get if I completely lost it. I have always worried that my powers were dangerous enough to kill, but what about my temper? If someone made me angry enough to totally lose my temper, could I kill them just like that?

"Jess!"

Leon's gasping voice brought me back out of my thoughts. I quickly let go of his throat and the fire around my fist died out. I got up off of him and started backing away from him slowly. I think that I was even more shocked by my actions than he was, and he was the one who was almost killed. It took a while before he finally stood up, still rubbing his neck. We just stared at each other for a moment, probably with identical looks of shock on our faces.

He must've noticed my change in behavior, because he started to say, "Jess, are…"

I held up a hand to stop him. "Look, just go, please," I told him in a soft, almost toneless voice. "Go before I do something else that I don't want to."

He started to say something else, but then he closed his mouth. He stood there for a moment longer, and then he nodded his head and walked away. I watched him walk around the corner and disappear, although I still heard his footsteps on the broken glass and then nothing. I knew that I should've apologized to him for my actions, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it at that time. That still didn't change the fact that I blamed him for what started all this, though.

I started walking toward the exit, but not before I stopped off at Victoria's Clothing Boutique to drop off my borrowed ski mask and jacket. I would've even went as far as writing a note to the employees and explaining the reason that I took those clothes, but I couldn't find a free sheet of paper to write on. I just set the clothes on the checkout counter and then left the store and then the mall altogether. The sun was starting to set and the air had grown noticeably cooler. I heard police sirens and low flying helicopters, but didn't really pay any attention to them. In fact, I wasn't paying attention to anything at that moment. I was in a zone to myself and was too emotionally drained to do anything else. I walked a little ways from the mall and then sat down on a curb in the parking lot. I sat there for the longest time just staring down at the black asphalt of the lot. Suddenly, I was startled out of my dreamlike trance by someone shaking my shoulder.

"Jess, are you alright? Can you hear me?"

I looked up and saw Allison standing above me. She was alright after all. I would've been happy to see her at that moment if I wasn't feeling so drained. "What?" I asked.

"I was wondering if you were going to answer me," she said. "You were really zoned out there. Are you okay?"

"I will be," I told her. "What happened to you?"

"I was just about to ask you the same thing," she said, joining me on the curb. "I come out of the bathroom and there's no one in GameWorld. I was wondering if there was a fire or something and then I heard shots being fired. I figured that they made everyone leave so I got the hell out of there as fast as I could. I went looking around for you but didn't see you anywhere. I then come back this way and see you sitting here on the curb. You sure you're okay?"

"I'll be fine," I said. "How about yourself? Are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah, I fine," she said. "It'll take a lot more than a few robbers to slow me down any."

We looked back at the mall, where I finally saw some police officers. Some were going inside the mall while others were busy taping off the entrances. News vans were starting to pull up in the parking lot. Looking up, I saw news choppers circling around the area. I had the feeling that every news station in the entire region was covering this story.

Allison sighed. "And they say nothing happens out here in the suburbs."

I don't know why, but I immediately burst out laughing. After a moment tears began rolling down my eyes and my sides were hurting from laughing so hard. I couldn't make myself stop, either. Maybe it was just my body's way of rejuvenating my drained emotions. After all, I've heard that laughter was supposed to be the cure for everything. For a moment, Allison just stared at me as if I'd completely lost my mind, and then she joined in as well. If anyone would've walked by us at that moment, they probably would've thought that we've gone insane from the experience. After a long time we were finally able to calm down our laughing.

"How do you do that?" I asked her.

"Do what?" she asked back.

"Make me laugh like that," I told her. "It seems like no matter how bad a mood I'm in, you could just say something completely unfunny and I go all to pieces. How do you do it?"

She shrugged. "I dunno. Believe me, you're not the only person I could do that to. I could pretty much do that to my parents and a few cousins and they say the same thing. Maybe I'm just gifted at doing that or something."

"It works, whatever it is," I told her.

She chuckled for a moment, then her face got serious. "Jessica," she started to say. That completely got my attention. She hardly ever called me Jessica unless she was dead serious about something. "I'm really sorry for what happened today. This was supposed to be a fun day and it got all screwed up."

"Hey, it's okay," I told her. "It's not your fault that the mall got robbed."

"I know that," she said softly. "I still feel guilty about it, though. I feel like I have to make it up to you."

"Allison, it's completely cool," I said, putting my hand on her shoulder. "I'm fine. I've had a great time today, well, at least before the mall got robbed. I'm still glad that we came out here. So don't blow yourself up over it, okay?"

She smiled a little. "Alright then, I won't. I'm glad that you still had some fun out of this."

We stayed quiet for a moment, then I smiled mischievously and said, "So you feel like making it up to me, huh? How about next weekend we go to Six Flags over Metroville? Who knows, maybe we'll get attacked by real life aliens while riding the Space Shot."

Allison laughed. "Well, if that happens, I'll just point to you and say, 'Here, take this redhead but spare the pretty Asian chick here.'"

"Okay then. If I see any around, I'll let them know." I laughed with that.

"Oh, you…" She shoved me down painfully, but we were both cracking up.

We were still laughing when we heard a horn honk behind us. Looking over, we saw that it was my mother parked almost right next to us. I stopped laughing immediately and a sense of dread came over me. I completely forgot how much trouble that I was in. For a moment, I was kind of surprised that she wasn't wearing her super suit and just looked like, well, regular old Mom. Then I thought that it would be stupid for her to be dressed up like Electricia and be driving a plain looking SUV. Supers usually drove, well, souped-up cars.

"Hey, did you call your mom to come get us or something?" Allison asked.

"Uh, yeah I did," I told her.

We got up off the curb and went over to the truck. Getting in, I saw that Mom still looked upset at me, but she seemed to play it off for the time being. "I heard what happened here," she said. "Are you two alright?"

"I'm fine," Allison told her.

"Same here," I said quietly.

"That's good to hear," Mom said.

We didn't say anything else as we left the mall and headed home. I tell you, that was the longest and most quiet half-hour drive there ever was. I didn't dare look over at Mom and just stared out the window at the passing buildings and traffic. I knew that every passing mile was one mile closer to home and my possible doom. I also knew that I would more than likely going to have to confess everything. I really, _really _wasn't looking forward to it. I was thinking so hard about how my mother was going to react to the news that I didn't even know that we pulled up into Allison's driveway until she opened the door to get out.

"Well, I guess I'll see you later then," she told me.

'_Hopefully,' _I thought. "Yeah, see you."

When we pulled out of her driveway and headed for our own home, I half expected Mom to start scolding me right there in the truck, but she still stayed quiet. That just made me all the more nervous. The few blocks to our house went way too fast and before I knew it, we were already pulling into our driveway and into the garage. She put the truck in park, turned the engine off, and then turned to me.

"Go into the living room and sit down on the couch," she told me.

I did as I was told. I got out of the truck and went inside the house. Once inside, I went into the living room and slowly sat down on the couch. My heart was beating wildly all that time. Mom came into the living room a moment later. She didn't sit down with me, though. She was actually pacing somewhat in front of me almost like a drill sergeant. I had the terrible feeling that she was about to chew me out like one, too.

She sighed heavily, and then said, "I don't think I need to tell you how disappointed I am with you right now, Jessica. Before you think it, I'm not angry that you have powers. In fact, I suspected for a long while that you did. What I'm most upset about is what happened today at the mall. God, what were you thinking, Jessica? What would've happened if I hadn't been shopping at the Target next to the mall and heard what was going on? You would most likely be dead now! Do you have any idea how devastated we would be right now if you had been killed? How could you risk your life like that?" She sighed again and then said, "Tell me exactly what happened at the mall, Jessica."

Here we go. I started to speak. "Allison and I were at GameWorld when she had to go to the bathroom. She left and then Leon came over to me. He's a boy that I met a couple days ago. He's also a super named the Chameleon. Anyway, we heard the robbers break through the skylight over the food court. Everyone was getting out. Leon wanted to go, too, but I didn't want to leave Allison behind. I also knew that we to leave, and so we did. We hid out at Victoria's Clothing Boutique instead of getting out, though. Leon told me that he was going to see what the robbers were doing. I didn't like it and tried to stop him, but he went anyway. I wanted to leave the mall, but I couldn't. I was afraid that if something bad happened to him, it would be my fault for not stopping him. I went back, but I didn't intend to fight them. I didn't even want to use my powers. All I just wanted to do was see if he was okay and then leave. I borrowed a mask and jacket from the store just to avoid the chance of them identifying me if they saw me. I got to the food court and heard the fight above. I was standing in broken glass at that time and I figured that hovering above the glass and flying would get me away, but I forgot that I didn't know how to fly and just drifted up to the second floor. When I got there, I saw that Chameleon was fighting them and actually winning. Then I saw that one of them was aiming this weird looking weapon at his back. It was like my body just reacted. One second, I'm floating there, then the next I was flying toward him and tackled him to the ground. He then tried to fight me. Again, it was like my body just reacted. My senses seemed to go into overdrive and the next thing I know I'm dodging and ducking his punches like a pro, but I never fought before in my life. I then knocked him out by kicking him in his face. Chameleon came over to see if I was okay, but then I saw another one aiming his rifle at us. I shot a bolt of fire at him and blasted him through a store window. I thought I actually killed him before Chameleon told me that he was still alive. We went to check up on him, but then the other two robbers surprised us. That's where you came in and saved our lives."

Mom stayed quiet while I talked, but I knew that she listened to the entire story carefully. After a while, she finally said, "Wow, that's quite the story, and that's exactly how it all happened from your perspective, right?"

"Yes, exactly," I told her. I did leave out a few parts, but I did tell her the truth.

"I believe you," she said. "It sounds like it wasn't really your fault. However, I'm still highly upset that you fought those robbers before you were really ready for this. You could've died today. That's something that I'm not going to get over easily. There's another thing that I'm upset about. It's the fact that you never told us about your powers. Why didn't you? Did you think we'd reject you or something? It was like I told you last night, we're your parents. You can talk to us about anything. Not only that, we'll always love you, no matter what. Don't be afraid and hide things from us. Now, what exactly are your powers and how long have you had them?"

"I can fly and shoot fireballs from my hands," I told her. "There's this…well, this aura of fire that surrounds my body and then I start levitating above the ground. I'm still not sure how to fly on my own yet, but I know that my body heats up as I fly. I would probably burn my clothes off if I go too far. I found out about them four years ago when I fell out of the tree and floated above the ground."

"You hid this from us for four years?" she asked with a little surprise. "Why?"

"Because they're dangerous," I said, my voice rising. "I could kill someone with them." I sighed and then continued. "I never told you what really happened that day I hit Chris Andrews. When I smacked him, I badly burned his cheek. I actually smelled his burning flesh. Because of that, I swore that I'd never use my powers ever again and never reveal to anyone that I had them, and that included you. I never wanted to use them today, but I don't think that I had much choice."

Mom came over and sat down next to me. "Let me tell you something, Jessica," she said. "I can guarantee you that just about every super's powers are dangerous. Look at me for example. As Electricia, I could very easily electrocute people to death if I'm not careful. In fact, I'm not going to lie to you. I've killed three people and came close to killing at least a dozen others during my career, but all that was in self defense. No super wants to take a life, but there are times when you have no other choice. Yes, our powers are dangerous and can be lethal, but you also have to know how to control them. I'm almost positive that you've only just scratched the surface of your potential. Someone once told me that we all have more power than we realize when we first start out. I'm sure that as you mature, your powers will as well. I'm really sorry that you burned Chris' cheek that day, I really am. I knew that something else had to have happened that day that made you so upset. However, and I'm sorry to say this, you have to let that incident go. If you let it take over your life, it's going to destroy you in the end."

"But you don't understand," I argued. "You said that your powers are dangerous and you even killed people, but you at least can control the intensity of your powers. You could simply stun someone instead of kill them. I'm sure that all the other supers can control the intensity of their powers also. I can't do that. How can you control fire? You can't. Fire always kills, no matter the intensity."

"I understand perfectly," she told me. "I also know that fire doesn't always kill. Let me ask you this. If a small flame hit your foot or your arm or even your chest, would it kill you? No, of course not. Sure, it might give you a good burn, but it won't actually kill you."

"But what if they were wearing flammable clothing?" I countered. "They would go up like a torch."

"I didn't mean it quite like that," she said. "Here, let me tell you about my super self to better explain this. Both of my parents were supers during the Golden Age. Their super names were Magman and Starfury. They married about two years before the ban and had to move to Centralia when it took effect. I was born a few months later. They brought me up pretty much like any other normal little girl. They didn't even tell me who they really were, so I didn't even know that I was a super myself. Then when I was six, I discovered my powers in quite the shocking way, excuse the pun. Do you know about the Great Centralia Blackout?"

"Yeah, I heard about it," I told her.

"That day my parents took me down to the local park. They let me run loose around the park while they sat on a bench. I don't think that they were watching me closely. So as I'm running around, I come across this power line that runs into the ground from the pole. Well, being the curious girl that I was, I reach out and grab it with both hands. I don't know what I think I was trying to do. It was probably just curiosity. Anyway, suddenly electricity surged out of my hands and into the line. It traveled up the line and into the transformer, causing it to explode with quite the fireworks. It scared the living crap out of me, too. It didn't stop there, though. The surge traveled along the power lines in all directions, exploding all transformers along the way. That was a very strange sound, hearing explosions getting further and further away. The next thing I know, my dad is prying my hands from the line and pulling me away. He actually thought that I got electrocuted at first. It didn't take either of my parents long to figure out that I had something to do with it. Of course, we didn't find out exactly what happened until about a week later when our power was finally restored. It turned out that not only did I destroy all the transformers in the city, but all the substations and at least three power plants in the region. It was amazing that no one got killed in the whole thing. I blacked out the entire city just by grabbing a single power line in a small park because I was curious."

"No way!" I said in wonder. "You destroyed Centralia's entire power grid like that? You caused the Great Centralia Blackout?"

"Yes, I did," she replied. "I actually thought that it was hilarious at the time, once I got over being scared from the exploding transformer. I still do in a way. Of course, the two million other residents of the city probably didn't find it all that funny, especially since it was the middle of summer, and neither did my parents or the NSA."

"NSA?" I asked. "The National Security Agency?"

"No, the National Supers Agency," Mom told me. "You would think that they could come up with something better so you wouldn't confuse the two, though. Anyway, it's a department established by the government for the protection of supers and to make sure we don't go overboard. It's pretty much your standard government watchdog program. However, as long as we use our powers for good and save cities instead of destroying them, as well as not doing too much damage in the process, they let us have free reign. They do have these set guidelines that they give us, but hardly any super follows them to the letter, and the NSA doesn't even really enforce them. That reminds me, I'll have to eventually get you registered with them."

"Registered?" I asked. "But why?"

"It's a requirement," she said. "It's mainly for your own protection. Also, they really hate rogue supers, supers that don't register with them and operate outside NSA guidelines. If they do something terrible, then it makes the NSA and all other supers look bad. It could even send us into another ban period."

"But I really don't want to be a super," I told her. "I'm still worried that I'll do something terrible with my powers."

"That's exactly how I was also," she said. "In fact, let me finish my story. Where was I? Oh yeah, blowing out Centralia's power grid. The official record said that the blackout was caused by a lightning strike on one of the substations, but my parents and eventually the NSA knew that I did it. My parents weren't too thrilled with me about it, mainly because it meant that we had to move. I didn't know why, but they told me that we were banned from using our powers and that me doing so put us at risk. I was upset because it meant having to move away from my friends, but that was what we had to do. So we packed up everything and moved here to Metroville. You could bet that I didn't try anything like that again, although I did experiment some. I did amuse my parents a few times by sticking a plug onto my finger and using my electricity to turn on an electric appliance, although they warned me not to do it too much or we might have to move again. I didn't really listen to them, though. Then one day when I was nine, something happened." She stopped right there.

"What happened?" I asked her, knowing fully that I wasn't going to like what I was about to hear.

Mom took a very deep breath and then continued her story. "I was best friends with this girl named Tracy back then. We met during kindergarten and practically been inseparable since then. Everyone thought of us as sisters because we spent so much time together. Anyway, on her ninth birthday she invited me and a few other kids to her birthday party. It was a real fun party with this huge birthday cake and her dad was dressed up as clown and doing his best to entertain us. They even hung up a piñata on their tree and we all took swings at it and failing miserably to break it. We eventually did when they said we could take off the blindfolds. Then it came time for her to open her presents. I got her this real nice doll and she loved it very much. The greatest gift she got that day though was when her parents got her this cute little puppy. It was a black lab just a few months old. Everyone wanted to hold him. When it came my turn to hold him, her aunt and uncle arrived, so she handed the puppy to me and went over to greet them. I was playing around with him and kissing his little wet nose. Then, one of Tracy's bratty little cousins came up behind me with one of those party air horns and blew it practically next to my ear. It scared me to death. When I finished screaming at him, I looked down and saw that the puppy was motionless in my hands. At first I didn't know what happened, but then I knew that something bad had happened. I ran over to Tracy's parents screaming and crying that something was wrong with her puppy. They rushed it to the vet. I didn't find out what happened until two days later. Her puppy was already dead long before they got to the vet, and they were amazed when the vet told them that he died by electrocution. They didn't know how that was possible, but I did. I ended up electrocuting him when Tracy's cousin scared me with the horn."

"My God," I said, my voice barely above a whisper from total shock from what my mother had just told me. "That's horrible!"

"Yes, it was," she said, her voice noticeably softer and shakier. "Tracy was absolutely devastated. She was never the same after that, and neither was I. She moved away about a year later without ever knowing the truth. I never told anyone about that, not even my own parents. You're the only person I've told this story to, Jessica." She stopped and took several breaths, as if composing herself. She then continued on. "It affected me so deeply that it took the better part of six whole years for me just to get over it. I didn't use my powers at all during that time. By the time I was ready to tell my parents about that, they were both killed."

"Killed?" My shock level just went several notches higher. I knew that my grandparents had died before I was born, but I didn't know that they were killed. That and the fact that they were supers themselves made it all the more shocking. "How?"

"They were killed when Syndrome lured them to his base on Nomanisan Island and tested his Omnidroids on them," she told me. "I was staying with my uncle at the time and didn't find out about it until about a week later when the NSA showed up at the door. I didn't believe it until they showed me my parents' torn and bloody suits, and even then I still didn't believe it. I went totally out of it. I was ready to go to that island myself and do my own version of shock therapy on Syndrome. I didn't care if it was a suicide mission. I probably would've too if he didn't already launch his attack on Metroville at that time. When I learned that he was eventually killed, I was happy at the time. I felt that he got what he deserved. However, when I learned the reason behind why he did it, I actually began to feel a little sympathy toward him. I still hated him for what he did, but I began to see the reason behind it. In a way, he created me, my super side, anyway. I felt then that it was my duty to take over my parents' legacy and accept who I was. Within a couple of months after their deaths, Electricia was born."

Just then the phone rang, interrupting her. She got up and answered it. "Hello?...Oh, hi, honey….Really? Why is that?...Well, when are you coming home?...Oh, well, I guess that I'll see you then…Okay, bye honey." She then hung up the phone and turned back to me. "That was your father," she told me. "Apparently, they need him to stay overnight to help finish a project so he's not coming home tonight."

"Is Dad a super too?" I asked her.

"No, he's not," she said. "He's a normal person. He knows about me, though. I don't think he knows about you, although he raises concerns about you once in a while, mainly how you always seem so down. He wanted me to talk to you about it someday."

She came back over to me and again sat down on the couch. "Anyway, I told you that story so you know what I went through at about your age," she said. "I also want you to not keep any secrets from us so you don't repeat the same mistake I did with my own parents. I want you to feel comfortable around us and don't think that we would yell and scream at you over something, okay?"

"Okay," I said.

"Now, I'm not going to ground you over this," she told me, much to my relief. "I'm still a little upset, but I think that it wasn't really your fault. I'd love to have a talk with that boy, though. Anyway, I don't want you to use your powers until you are truly ready. You are our only child and I don't want you to get hurt or hurt anyone else. I also want you to think about all I've told you tonight. Don't worry, you don't have to come to any decision quickly so just take your time." She stopped for a second and then said, "I'd still like for you to be prepared anyway, so tomorrow I'm going to take you to get fitted for your own super suit."

"Really?" Even though my future plans for becoming a superhero were still very much questionable at that moment, getting my very own super suit sounded awesome. I then wondered if I was ever going to use it, though. "That's sounds pretty neat." I remembered something then, something that I wanted to say since I found out that she was a super.. "You know, I still find it unbelievable that Electricia, my idol super, ends up being my own mother. Talk about irony, huh?"

"Yes, it sure is," she said with a smile. "You don't know how flattered by that I was by that. Seeing all your posters and action figures and newspaper clippings of me always brought a smile to my face. There were times that I almost told you who I really was, but I caught myself just in time. I'm still surprised that you never figured it out. I didn't think that my old mask hid me that completely and that I didn't disguise my voice that good."

I began to think about that. She was right. How could I never have figured it out before? She used to wear a white and yellow suit with just a mask covering her eyes instead of a full helmet. I remembered seeing her hair style and hearing her voice and I still didn't see it? Was I really that blind? It seemed so obvious who she was, well, at least now it did. Maybe I never saw it because I never expected Electricia to be my own mother.

Her watch beeped and she looked down at it. "Ten o'clock already? I didn't think that it was so late. Well, I guess that I should get dinner started."

She then got up from the couch and went into the kitchen. I saw her in a new light then, as both my mother and as Electricia. It was both exciting and freaky and something I was going to have to get used to from then on. I still sat there on the couch and began to think about the story that she told me. It sounded almost exactly like mine, although I hoped that it wouldn't end the same way, with my parents' deaths. However, she was able to overcome for her fear of her powers and become a superhero. I was still very much afraid of my powers and still wasn't convinced that I could control the intensity of my powers like she could with her own. But maybe she was right and all I needed was just a little more time and training. Her story made me feel a little better about myself, but I knew that it was going to take a lot more than that to overcome my fear of my own powers. We would have to wait and see.


	9. The New Suit

_Author's note: Hi, Spindle Berry! Yeah, the last chapter definitely wasn't the best one I've ever written, and I knew that it was going to be cheesy the moment I wrote it. But that's my writing style, and I can't guarantee that there won't be any more cheesy moments later on. I wasn't offended at all, but thanks for your concern. Thank you and everyone else for taking time to read my story. Now, here's the next chapter. Warning, this one is _very looong!

**Chapter 9**

The next morning I left my home and took a walk toward the park. I really needed to clear my head of all thoughts and just start over again from the beginning. So many things have changed in the last two days. Getting contacted by Leon and Chance about a Project Etybonan that could be a threat to the city, a mysterious woman that I didn't know but she seemed to know about me, the fight in the mall that forced me to use my powers and still almost ending up getting killed, and then being saved by Electricia who ended up being my own mother. Not only that, I was really beginning to worry about myself. All these changes probably weren't doing my sanity any good. Also, I went through such a wide array of emotions yesterday that I still felt burned out even then. It was probably a sign of completely shattered nerves. I was most worried about my temper out of all things. I always had a problem of controlling it if something made me angry enough. The events of the past couple days saw me lose it almost explosively. Yesterday I almost killed Leon with my temper. What could happen tomorrow? Just how far would I go if I completely lost control of myself? I actually began to wonder if it was something I was going to need counseling with.

I reached the park and was pleasantly surprised to see it empty. It was still early and it was a Saturday, so all the kids were probably busy watching morning cartoons. I really needed some time alone right then anyway. I went over to the swings and sat down in one. I moved it just enough to swing about a foot in either direction. I just stared at the ground and thought about how much my life had changed. It was just so much to think about. I wished that everything was just like it was last week. Sure it was boring, but it was normal and everything made sense.

"You know, thinking too hard can be hazardous to your health," a voice said from behind me.

Surprised by the sudden voice, I shot up out of the swing and almost stumbled on my own feet in the process. Turning around, I saw a figure dressed completely in black and wore a full mask covering her entire head. I knew that she was a woman by her features, but there was no way I could tell who she was. Who was this woman, and what did she want?

"Who are you?" I asked her.

"You don't know?" she asked back in a confused voice.

"Well, how could I know? You're wearing a mask."

She chuckled. "Well, that could explain it a little. I'm still surprised that you don't know. In that case, just call me a friend."

I sighed. I really wasn't in the mood for this. I came to the park for some quiet thinking time, not to have a conversation with a stranger, although it seemed like that was how I was starting them lately. "Alright _friend, _I want to be left alone right now. What do you want with me?"

"It has nothing to do with what I want," she told me. "It's has to do with what you want to know."

What I wanted to know? What did she mean by that? I felt my frustration staring to grow, but I quickly put a clamp on it. "What does that mean?" I asked her.

"It's precisely what I mean," she said. "There's something that's been bothering you for the last two days and you want to know about it."

I raised an eyebrow in surprise. That was too good an answer to be just a guess. Was she this mysterious woman that started all of this? I decided to test her. "Okay, then. Tell me what's been bothering me for the past two days."

"Unless you have been preoccupied with something else, I believe it has something to do with a Project Etybonan, am I right?"

That confirmed it for me. She had to be that woman. "Are you that woman that contacted Leon and Chance?"

"I don't know," she replied. "I could be, or maybe I'm not. It's whoever you think I am."

Now she was starting to play games with me. My patience with her was evaporating faster than the morning fog. Still, I managed to keep my cool. "What do you mean by that? Either you are or you aren't. It's that simple."

"No, things are never that simple," she said. "Believe me, I know. Besides, weren't you the one sitting there in the swing wishing that your life was a lot simpler these days?"

I was almost floored by that statement. What was this woman, some sort of psychic? How could she know that about me? "Okay, who are you really?" I demanded. "How do you know so much about me? What do you know about this Project Etybonan?"

"It was like I said before, I'm a friend, someone that I thought you knew," she told me. "As for Project Etybonan, I know about it, and you will as well very soon."

"What?" She was confusing the heck out of me. "What does that…"

"I have to go," she interrupted. "You're a lot smarter than you realize, and you should be able to figure things out. See you around." She started to leave, but then turned around. "By the way, you might want to look in the mirror. You might be surprised by what you see." With that she walked away from the park.

I just stood there in stunned silence. I thought that my life couldn't get any stranger than this, and just when I was on the verge of…

_**RRRIIINNNGGG! RRRIIINNNGGG!**_

My eyes shot open. For a few moments I didn't know where I was or what was going on. Then I realized that I was asleep and it had all been a dream. Man, I've been having some weird dreams lately. It all seemed so real though. Then again, all dreams seem real when you're sleeping. My phone was ringing. I frowned, thing that it was Allison again. I thought that I told her about that, especially since there was no real reason for her to call me early on a Saturday. Only it wasn't that early as bright sunlight was already streaming through my window. I looked at my clock and saw that it was just after eleven in the morning. It wasn't unusual for me to sleep in late on the weekends, but even that was a little late for me. I reached over and picked up the phone.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Jess, is that you?" It was Chance's voice.

"Chance? Are you alright? What happened to you at the mall yesterday? I didn't see you around anywhere."

"Oh, well," he hesitated. "Leon wanted me to go find some help while he stalled the robbers. I think that he just wanted me out of the way and keep me safe. I not quite as skilled a fighter as he is, but I am learning. I heard that you held your own, too."

"Just barely," I told him.

"Still, I wish that I was there to help him," he said. "I think that he's a little overprotective of me. I mean, sure he's my older brother only by two years, but I wish that he'd let me do things on my own. That's why I hate having an older sibling. Don't you?"

"I wouldn't know," I said. "I'm an only child."

"Lucky you. Be glad that you are. Older siblings can be a pain in the neck sometimes, no matter how much you love them."

"I can only imagine." I told him. "So why are you calling me? I doubt that it was to discuss older brothers."

He hesitated again but this time for a while before he said, "Leon told me what happened at the mall between you two. You really freaked him out, you know. He told me that he'd never seen anyone as angry as you were. He thought that you were actually going to kill him. I wanted to call you last night to talk about it but he didn't want me to. He's gone to the movies right now, so I just went ahead and called you anyway. I just wanted to know if you're alright."

I felt really terrible then. I had no intention of scaring or even hurting him like that. I wondered if he truly hated me now. I wouldn't blame him one bit if he did. "I'm fine now," I said softly. "I really don't know what came over me. I'm not that violent a person. I mean, I do lose my temper quite easily if someone really pissed me off, but I would never go that far. I think that it was because so much had changed for me over the past couple days and I was just so stressed out by it all that I took it out on him. Tell him that I'm truly sorry for that and I hope that he forgives me."

"Well, I don't know," Chance said. "He seemed so upset about it. He might eventually, but I wouldn't hold my breath for him forgiving you quickly."

"I wouldn't blame him," I sighed. "That still doesn't change what I told him, though. I don't want any more part of this. It's turning me into someone that I don't want to be. What went on at the mall yesterday should never have happened. Your brother and I almost got killed, and I came that close to killing him myself. I just can't be involved in this anymore. I hope that you understand."

"I understand what you're saying," he told me. "Like it or not, though, you're already involved in this. Your dad could still be working for Project Etybonan. He could be working on things that could be a threat to Metroville. Doesn't that concern you?"

"Of course it does," I told him. "I would love for him to explain to me what's really going on with all this, to tell me that he's not involved and what Etybonan means. But I just can't do this anymore. I don't want to use my powers again and hurt anyone else, even if they are criminals. I just can't take that chance. I'm through, and don't try to change my mind about this. My mind's already made up."

"Alright, I won't push the issue," he said. "It'll be disappointing not to have your help, though. By the way, how'd it go with your mother last night?"

"Excuse me?" I was confused by that.

"Leon told me that your mom is Electricia and that she just found out about you," he said. "Did she ground you at all or something?"

"Actually, no she didn't," I told him. "She was very upset with me about it and gave a lecture, but she didn't ground me. She also told me a story about herself, but that was mainly it."

"Wow, you are so lucky," he said with some amazement. "If my mother ever found out that Leon and I were supers, well, let's just say that she'll do a little more to us than just ground us until we were twenty-one."

My mouth dropped to the floor. I couldn't believe what I've just heard. "Whoa, wait a sec! Back up! Are you telling me that your parents don't even know that you two are supers?"

"Well, um," he stuttered a little. "Okay, yeah, that's exactly what I'm telling you."

I shook my head in amazement. "And I thought that I hid something huge from my parents for all these years. How are you two getting away with this? How'd you even get your suits, for that matter? I'm sure that you didn't make them yourselves or ask your parents to get them for Christmas."

"Actually, it's very easy to hide our activities from them," he replied. "I'm surprised that we were able to get away with it this long. As for our suits, no, we didn't make them. We got them from our uncle. He's a super that lives in Munichberg."

"Did he make the suits?" I asked.

"No, he didn't," he said. "All supers get their suits from one person. You might be surprised who it is, and…" He stopped suddenly, and then he said, "I have to go. Leon's back. Listen, I know that you don't want to be involved anymore, but I'd like to leave you our number, just in case. You never know what could happen later."

I was about to say no, but I knew that he was right. I didn't know what could happen later on. I grabbed a pen and piece of paper from my nightstand. "Okay, go ahead and leave it," I told him.

"Alright, it's 555-7461. Have you got that?"

"Yeah, I got it," I said once I finished writing it down. "Just tell Leon that I'm extremely sorry for what I did, okay?"

"Yeah, I'll tell him. I'll talk to you later." The line clicked as he hung up.

I stared down at the number in my hand for the longest time. I wasn't sure what to do with it. Part of me wanted to tear it up and throw it away, while the other half wanted me to keep it around just in case something really did happen. I wasn't sure what could happen, but you never know. With a small sigh, I folded it up and stuck it next to my phone.

I figured that I was wasting time just sitting there in bed, especially since it was close to noon, so I got up and put on some casual clothing. I then went downstairs to see Mom ironing some clothes in the living room. For some reason, I was slightly disappointed. I didn't know why, maybe it was that I was expecting her to do something, well, super. Probably something like having the plug of the iron on her finger instead of in the wall socket. That was something that I would love to see someday. Still, it was a stupid thought to begin with. Yes, I found out yesterday that my mother was Electricia, but that didn't mean that all sense of normalcy around the house was thrown out the window by that.

"Hi, honey," she said when she saw me.

"Hi, Mom," I greeted. "Has Dad come back home yet?"

"No, he hasn't," she replied. I then saw her frown a little. "He called earlier and told me that he had to stay there a little longer. That must be one great project they have him working on down there."

Almost immediately alarm bells went off inside my head. Something about that didn't seem right. Dad had never been gone to work this long before. What kind of project was he working on? Was it part of Project Etybonan? If it was, then just how involved was he? Did he know what was going on or was he doing this willingly? What if he was in trouble at this very moment? What if he was just working overtime on just a normal project? So many questions were racing through my mind that it was hard to keep track of all of them.

It wasn't just those questions, though. I was also questioning whether or not I should tell Mom what was going on. The questions for that were a lot harder for me to answer than the ones I had for my Dad. It seemed extremely ridiculous. You would think that it would be a no-brainer and that I should just tell her everything I knew. It just wasn't that simple, though. I was thinking that not only did I not want any more part in this, but I didn't want Mom involved, either. I was still thinking of her as my mother and not as Electricia and I guess that I didn't want anything to happen to her. At the same time, I knew that she could more than likely defend herself in any dangerous situation. According to her story, she had been doing this for nearly twenty years. That meant that she was a year or two older than I was right now when she first started. Still, if what I heard was true, this whole thing sounded too dangerous for either one of us, although if we…

"Are you ready?"

"What?" Mom said something to me that I didn't quite catch.

"I asked if you were ready to go get your new super suit," she repeated.

"Oh, um…yeah, I suppose."

"Great," she said. "Let me finish up my ironing and then we can go."

I didn't tell her that I was beginning to have second thoughts about getting a suit of my own. Yesterday I thought that it would be awesome, but I was also not really thinking clearly. Now that I had more time to think about it, I wasn't quite so sure if I wanted one. I mean, getting my very own super suit would seem like I was making a commitment to being a hero at that time. I didn't think I was quite ready for one just yet. Still, Mom was right and that I never knew what could happen, and I didn't want to disappoint her by voicing my opinion, so ten minutes later I found myself reluctantly climbing into Mom's truck and we were on our way to wherever they made the suits.

"So, is this like some sort of super vehicle or something?" I asked.

She chuckled. "Nope," she answered. "It's just your regular '93 Ford Explorer. I don't have a real need for a super vehicle. Remember, I can travel through power lines to get to places."

"Oh, yeah." That was still really freaky. She could actually turn into this electric pulse and travel through the power lines to get to wherever she needed to be. I was going to ask her how she was able to do that later.

"So where do we actually get the suits, some sort of Supers 'R Us?" I asked her.

"I would prefer to surprise you," she said.

We continued to drive on until we were leaving the city behind and were entering the countryside. I begin to wonder how far we had to go until we reached our destination, wherever it was. In the meantime, I passed some of the time by looking out of the window at the countryside. It was really beautiful with lush green fields and orchards and very few houses. I wouldn't mind living out here someday, that is if Metroville's suburbs haven't made it out this far by then. By the way they were growing, I wouldn't be surprised if they would be out this far by the time I was able to live on my own.

I saw that we were approaching a very large mansion. I couldn't tell exactly what type of mansion it was or even who might've lived there. As we got closer, though. I definitely recognized it, and with that I knew who lived there. My jaw dropped and my eyes bugged out of my head. No way! It couldn't be _her _mansion, could it? It was impossible! This had to be some kind of joke, but as we turned into the long entryway, I definitely knew that it wasn't. I probably shouldn't have been that much surprised, but I was.

"No way!" I exclaimed. "_Edna Mode? _The billionaire fashion designer? She makes the suits?"

"Yes, she does," Mom told me. "I told you it would be a surprise."

Yes, it was definitely a surprise, but it wasn't a pleasant one. She was known throughout Metroville as 'Crazy E'. It was mainly because her old mansion burned down seventeen years earlier, well, actually more like exploded sky-high. Everybody says that she caused the explosion, although they didn't know exactly why. Not only that, her new mansion was strange. Sure, her mansion looked normal on the outside, and I could presume that it looked normal on the inside since I've never seen it, and she had a very expansive but normal looking lawn and a few fountains, but surrounding the whole estate was an actual laser fence. It was a single red beam about eight feet high, about an inch thick, and supported across dozens of metal poles about ten feet high that went around the whole perimeter. The whole thing seemed very impractical, and the amount of power it probably needed, not to mention the bill, had to be immense. It was probably just something flashy and completely unnecessary. That was one thing I hated about rich people. They always wanted to show off their wealth to the world, things like buying a dozen Ferraris, a half dozen private jets and yachts, mansions with about a million rooms, thousand acre yards, and a swimming pool the size of Lake Superior, and in this case, an entire laser fence surrounding the mansion. It was like they were saying, 'Look at me! I'm rich and you're not! Ha, ha, ha!' Still, she was one of the world's best fashion designers, so it would probably make some sense that she designed super suits as well.

"Mom, she's crazy," I complained. "She blew up her own house, for God's sake."

"She did not blow up her house, Jessica," Mom told me. "At least, not intentionally."

That caught me a little off guard. "What? You mean that she really did? What happened?"

"It's a very long story," she said.

'_Isn't everything,' _I thought to myself.

We pulled up to what I presumed was the entrance. The laser fence was continuous, but it was the only place where the road continued on toward the mansion. Mom stopped the truck just short of the beam. I wondered if Edna would know that we were there. I didn't see any cameras or monitors or even a call button anywhere. At that moment, I heard a mechanical noise and then a black pole slid out from the ground right next to the truck. Immediately a point of light appeared from it and then an image shimmered into view. It was a holographic picture of a tall, muscle bound man wearing a suit and sunglasses. He looked like one of those guys that came from the CIA or something.

"Do you have an appointment?" he asked in a very deep voice.

"I'm just a friend passing through," Mom told him. "I just…"

He interrupted her. "All visitors are required to notify…"

He was then interrupted himself by a very short old woman beating him over the head with a rolled-up newspaper. They both disappeared out of view. I knew that it was Edna Mode herself doing that to him. I chuckled to myself seeing such a huge man being handled so easily by a short old lady.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to do that?" she told him off the picture. "Go on, get out of here! Make yourself useful for once! Feed the dogs, check the power level of the fence, do something!" She then reappeared in the image, although you could only see just the top of her head and her oversized glasses. "Yes, yes, who is it? What do you want? For God's sake, move closer to the image, I can't see you."

"Hi, E," Mom greeted her. "It's me, Veronica Wells. You know, Electricia."

"_RONNIE!_" Edna exclaimed. Mom visibly winced a little. "So nice to see you again, darling! Don't just sit out there! Come in, darling! Come in!"

Her image faded from view and then the part of the fence in front of us shimmered off. We went through the opening and toward the mansion. The fence turned back on the moment we were clear.

"Ronnie?" I asked Mom with an eyebrow raised.

She sighed. "It was my father's nickname for me when I was little. Edna picked it up when she overheard him call me that one time. She's been calling me that ever since. She thinks that it's real cute. I hate it when she calls me that. Don't tell her I said that, though."

"Sure, no problem…Ronnie." I giggled. She groaned loudly but I saw her smile a little.

A moment later we pulled up to the front of the mansion. I got out of the truck and looked up at it. It was a very modern, but very imposing structure. The whole place was built from marble and had dozens of windows. The entrance was flanked by a pair of columns that extended to the roof. It was actually a pretty place, but it had to be also pretty expensive. It had to have cost tens of millions of dollars.

"I still think she's crazy," I muttered.

"Jessica, she's not crazy," Mom said. "She's been designing super suits since the late forties. She knows what she's doing."

"I hope so," I said under my breath.

We went up to the double front doors of the mansion. We didn't have to ring the doorbell or anything like that, because right then the doors flew open and Edna Mode herself rushed out to greet us. I was taken back by her height, or lack of it. I've seen her dozens of times on television and in newspapers and while I knew she was short, it was hard to tell just how short she really was. I saw now that she was a lot shorter than I was, and I was only a fourteen-year-old girl.

"Welcome, Ronnie, darling," Edna greeted my Mom. "You never call me. Why is that? It's been so long since we last talked."

"It's only been a few months," Mom told her.

"Like I said, darling, too long." She then turned to me. "And who is this?"

"This is my daughter, Jessica," Mom said. "She's a super as well. We're here to get her fitted for her own super suit."

She came over to me and shook my hand. "Nice to meet you, Jessie." she said. "Can I call you that, darling?"

"Well…" I started to say.

"Good, I'm glad you like it. I'm Edna Mode, by the way, but everyone calls me E. I want you to call me that too, darling."

"Well, okay, but…"

"Enough with the introductions. So, you need a suit of your own, huh? I'm usually so busy at this time, you know, with the upcoming Tokyo Fashion Expo. I don't have time to make super suits, darling, although if you ask me nicely, then I might be able to squeeze in some time."

"I…"

"Okay, okay, I'll do it. I'll make you a suit. God, you push so hard, Jessie, just like your mother. I can only take so much begging and pleading. What can I say? It's a weakness of mine, darling. Okay, then, come on, come on. Let's go on in and see what we can do."

As we went inside I looked over at Mom with a confused expression on my face. She only shrugged in reply. Did I mention that Edna was crazy before? I take that back, she was absolutely _insane! _Was she always like this? Did she totally lose her mind designing all those clothes and super suits or something? I didn't think that I liked her calling me Jessie as well. I didn't like it when my aunt called me that. What could I do, though? I guess that I now knew how Mom felt when Edna called her Ronnie.

Crazy as she was, at least she kept a nice looking place. The entry hall was lined with vases taller than all three of us. Each one of them looked very rare and expensive. I didn't have much time to look at them, though, because we were suddenly entering her living room, at least I think it was the living room. Whatever it was, it was _huge, _probably the size of our entire house. The room was packed with all types of furniture sitting on a huge highly decorated rug and large paintings hanging on the walls, again, all probably very rare and expensive. Hanging from the ceiling was the largest chandelier I've ever seen. On one of the walls was a huge home theater system that probably would've taken up an entire wall and then some in our own living room. Heck, the huge projection TV itself likely would've done that. Along one wall was a grand piano the size of my mom's truck, bigger maybe. She also kept a few tall pine trees along the walls. Impressive as all that was, nothing could compare to what was along the back wall. There was a large bronze statue of a man with his arms outstretched and holding on to a jar in each hand. Water was coming out of each jar and was cascading down into a pair of trenches made in the floor. The water flowed along these trenches and disappeared under the front wall. In all, I don't think that I've ever seen such a huge collection of highly expensive stuff in my life.

Did I also mention that I really hated it when rich people showed off their wealth like that?

"How was the fashion show in London, by the way?" Mom asked Edna.

"Terrible!" Edna spat. "I've never seen such shoddy work in my life! Nothing but patchwork quilts! And they want to pass them off as _designer clothes? _Bah! I've designed better clothes as a baby! Hmph! Fashion designers, indeed! For the totally blind, maybe!"

She went over to the piano and tapped on eight keys. Immediately a portion of the wall next to the piano slid open to reveal a secret elevator. I wasn't really all that surprised when I saw it. I already suspected that she had a secret room or something that she made the suits in. It wasn't like she could do something like that out in the open. We went inside and the doors shut behind us. The moment they did, the elevator shot down at an incredible speed. No, we didn't go flying up toward the ceiling, but I definitely felt my insides trying to move up into my brain. Almost just as quickly as the descent began, it stopped and my insides slammed down into my feet. It was not a very good feeling.

The doors opened and we stepped out into a futuristic looking tunnel. It was lit up with blue lighting and was so highly polished that everything reflected off another thing and made the whole thing look a lot bigger than it was. The most prominent feature of the tunnel though were about a couple dozen mannequins along the walls that were wearing the suits of different supers. As we walked by them I took closer looks at the suits. I definitely recognized some of them as the suits of Frozone, Prototron, Meteor-Mite, Sky Hawk, and even my mother's old Electricia suit. However, at the end of the tunnel in a large display case were the suits of all five Incredibles. I admit that I've always liked their suits. Unlike most other super's suits, the Incredibles' suits haven't changed very much in the fourteen years they've worn them. They were the perfect example of a simple yet very bold design that could last throughout the years pretty much unchanged.

We came up to a door that looked like it opened diagonally from one top corner to the opposite bottom corner. On the right side of the door was a large keyhole with a red light under it, which presumably meant that the door was locked.

"_Identification required for access," _a deep synthesized computer voice said from a hidden speaker.

Edna pulled out a key and inserted it into the lock. When she turned it, I expected the door to open, but it only opened a smaller panel above the lock. I saw that there was a hand scanner, a retinal scanner, and a tiny microphone. That surprised me a little. Jeez, you'd think that she had enough security systems for a single door? Then again, this was where she made the suits, so I guess that you can't be too careful with that. She placed her left hand on the hand scanner, which made a quiet beep a moment later. She then peered into the retinal scanner, and again there was a beep. She then spoke into the microphone.

"Edna Mode."

There were a few loud clicks and then a hiss from the door. The light under the lock turned green.

"_Identification confirmed," _The voice said. _"You may enter."_

Almost immediately though, a loud alarm sounded. Two panels on the ceiling slid open and a pair of the meanest looking weapons I've ever seen came shooting out of them. One of them aimed at my mother and the other at me, their laser sights pointed right at our foreheads.

"_Warning, two unidentified personnel detected. Use of deadly force authorized."_

"Oh, and guests," Edna said quickly into the microphone. The alarm shut off and the weapons retracted back into the ceiling.

"_Access granted. You may enter."_

"E, I thought you were going to get that fixed," Mom said.

"Oh, I will, darling," Edna told her. "I'm just so busy these days, fashion shows, designing super suits, and all that."

"But you've been saying that same thing for fifteen years! That thing's going to kill someone someday."

"Hasn't happened yet, Ronnie. Come on, let's go."

I was still a little shaken from that near death experience. "Um, is it…safe?" I asked.

"Of course it is, Jessie," she told me. "I was just telling your mother that. She can get so paranoid over such little things."

"I do not!" my mother objected.

"Whatever you say, darling."

The doors slid open and we stepped into a room that looked like it came straight out of a James Bond movie. It had all types of advanced looking machinery, mannequins of all shapes and sizes, mock-ups of what I thought were gadgets for supers, electronic rotating schematics of the same gadgets and other things that I didn't recognize, and what I thought looked like a moving display case along the back wall. To say that I was amazed by what I was seeing would've been the ultimate understatement. And I thought that everything up in her mansion was expensive! All this had to have cost some serious bucks! At least everything in the room had a purpose instead of just being there for show.

Edna went over to a table and sat down in a chair. Grabbing a nearby sketchpad, she then said, "Alright, let's get down to business. What exactly are your powers, darling?"

"I can fly and shoot fire from my hands," I told her. "When I fly I have this aura of fire that surrounds my body. I think that the faster I fly, the hotter it gets."

"Hmm, sounds a lot like Blazestone," she said.

"Who's Blazestone?" I asked.

"She was a super that basically had the same things that you told me, except that she didn't have an aura and she was pyrokinetic."

"Pyro_what_?"

"She could control fire with her mind, darling. Can you do that?"

"Not that I know of," I told her. That was something that I was going to have to look into later.

"What's your super name?" she asked.

Super name? I've never chosen a name for myself. I didn't have a reason to. "Um, I…haven't thought up one yet."

She raised an eyebrow. "You don't have a name? No, darling, that just won't do! You have to have a name for yourself. How am I supposed to work my magic if I don't have anything to work with? Your name reflects your character, and that reflects the design of your suit. Do you have at least any ideas of what you what to call yourself, darling?"

"No, I don't," I said.

"Well, let's see," Mom said. "You can fly and you have fire powers, almost like a phoenix. Maybe you can work with that."

A phoenix? That almost sounded exactly like what I could do. I began to think hard. Maybe I could base my name off of that. Could I just simply call myself Phoenix? No, that sounded too masculine. I wanted something that sounded strong but also had a feminine touch to it, something like Electricia. Wait a second, that was it! Why not just combine the two names. How about Phoenicia? I liked it. It had a cool ring to it, and it also honored my mother. After all, we might one day end up being a mother-daughter team.

"I kind of like Phoenicia," I said.

"Phoenicia," Mom repeated. "I like it. Has a nice ring to it. It also says a lot about you."

"I suppose," Edna said. "It wouldn't have been my first choice, but it'll work. Now, what do you expect in your suit?"

I thought some more. "I don't know. I don't want anything overly flashy, maybe just something simple…"

"_Simple?" _Edna exploded. "Bah! Simple is only for the weak-minded and fashion-deprived, darling! No, Jessie, you don't want simple! You want something very bold, something very dramatic, something that'll stun your opponents by its sheer elegance so you don't have to work so hard to beat them! That's what you want!"

"Okay," I said with some confusion. "Are suits really made out of spandex, though? Because if they are…"

Edna laughed loudly. "Jessie, darling, contrary to what you read in the comics, supers never wore spandex. Sure, that might work for fake supers and Richard Simmons wannabes, but not here. I would never allow it. Besides, this is the nineties now. We're talking space age, nanotube-based super fabric. Completely unbreakable, bulletproof, waterproof, fireproof, and also stain-proof. That's a new feature, by the way. It also breathes excellent."

"What about a cape? How come…"

"No capes!" she yelled. "I don't do capes!"

"Uh-oh. Now you've done it," Mom told me.

"How many times do I have to tell this blasted story? When will you people learn that capes are just as dangerous as any villain?"

"Why is that?" I asked. Despite my mother's warning, I was very interested to know why supers suddenly stopped wearing capes.

Edna sighed deeply. "Capes were just something that got in the way. Sure, it looked all nice and flashy, but it was just something that was just begging to get caught on something. Do you know how many supers got killed by their own capes during the Golden Age?" She sighed again. "I thought that they would've known better when the ban was lifted, but _nooo, _then came the eighties. God, what a terrible decade that was."

"What was so terrible about it?" I asked.

"Two words, darling. Generation-X. You're not one of them, are you?"

"I don't think so," I said.

"Good." She sighed for a third time. "Those damned Gen-X supers. Always wanting to break the rules, always wanting to go against the better judgment of others."

"What was so…" I started to ask.

"Do I have to spell it out for you? _THEY MADE THEIR OWN CAPES! _One of them decides to make a cape, and then they all do it! They totally desecrated my perfect work just to make a fashion statement! Not only that, those so-called _capes _weren't even made professionally! Some of them literally were patchwork quilts! Do you know how embarrassing it is to have your hard perfected work be associated with such crappy work? Well do you?" Before I could say anything, she continued on. "So they're out there with those rags around their shoulders, and like I predicted, they start getting killed by them. Are you aware of Aeroraider?"

"He was the one with the flying surfboard, wasn't he?" Mom asked.

"Yes. Tall, a lot of muscle but not a lot of brain. April 17th of '83. Another air disaster, another chopper clips a skyscraper and loses its tail rotor. Aeroraider arrives to save the day, only to have his rag snag the main rotor. Quite a mess, that was."

"Ouch," I cringed.

"Then there's Aquafine. Very pretty cheerleader but also very airheaded. I could hardly understand her, always saying things like, 'whatever', and 'like totally', and 'as if'. Anyway, August 9th of '88, another disaster on the high seas, another cruise ship saved, when she _like totally _got her rag caught in the propeller. Do you want to hear any more, darling? I've got five more."

"No, no, no!" I said quickly. I was somewhat sick to my stomach. "I got the point."

"Good. At least you learn quickly, unlike some people. Good thing that was just an eighties fad." She then held out her sketchpad. "Done! What do you think, darling?"

Done? I didn't know that she even started. I took the pad and looked at it. On it was what my new suit would look like. It was totally black with orange gloves, boots, and belt. There was a symbol of what looked like a bird on fire with wings outstretched on the chest that was also orange in color. Finally, the eye mask was black and was shaped almost like the symbol. I actually liked the design very much. It was simple, yet very stylish. It also seemed to fit me perfectly.

"I like it," I told her.

"Let me see," Mom said. I handed her the pad at she looked it over. "Wow, that's nice. That's definitely you, Jessica."

"Good," Edna said, taking back the pad. "Now, before we get started, I'm going to need your exact measurements. Come stand in this circle, darling."

There was a white circle on the floor close to me. I went over and stepped inside it. Edna went over to a nearby computer terminal and tapped some keys on the keyboard. Two thick metallic poles slid up from the floor on both sides of the circle until they reached my height. Then a wide green laser beam came on from the bottom of the each pole and shined on my shoes. The twin beams slowly moved up my body and then down again. Then the poles moved a quarter and started over again. When it was done the poles retracted back into the floor.

"Time to make some magic," Edna said.

She cracked her knuckles and then started typing away at several computer terminals. After a while she moved over to another set of computers and typed at those as well. Then she went back to the first set and again typed. She kept moving back and forth like that for the longest time. I didn't know what she was doing. Finally, she tapped a few last buttons and suddenly one of the mannequins along the wall was picked up by a robotic arm, was moved over to the center of the room, and then was gently set down. I noticed that it was roughly my size. Edna pushed a button and a wide green beam came down from the ceiling and onto the mannequin. A wireframe appeared around the mannequin and then filled in with the image of my suit. It was how it would appear on me when it was finished.

"Still like it, darling?" Edna asked me.

I walked around the mannequin. The image was completely 3-D, so I could inspect how the entire suit would look. After I walked around it one more time, I decided that it was just right. "It's perfect," I said.

Edna pressed another button and the image disappeared. Then the robot arm picked the mannequin up again and moved it into some kind of giant booth. The arm set it down inside and then moved away. A door slid shut but it had a large window so that we could still see inside. Immediately about eight robot arms came out of the sides and started moving at an unbelievable around the mannequin. I think that they were actually making my suit.

"Your new suit should be ready within the hour, darling," Edna told me.

"An hour?" I asked in amazement.

"Yes. Is there something wrong with that?"

"No, I just thought that things like this took a little more time to make."

"Like I said, Jessie, this is the nineties. We can do a lot these days." She went back over to the table and sat down. She pressed a button and part of the table slid open and a teapot and some cups came out. "Care for some tea while we wait, darling?"

I shrugged. "Sure, why not." She poured me a cup and handed it to me. I took a small sip and immediately coughed and sputtered. "Ugh! What kind of tea is this?" I managed to croak out between coughs. "It's bitter."

"It's Japanese tea, darling," she told me. "I take it you don't like it."

"It could use some sugar."

"You don't put sugar in Japanese tea. I suppose it's an acquired taste."

I set the tea back down on the table. "I'm sorry, E. I can't drink this."

"I suppose not everyone can enjoy it," she said. She then turned to Mom. "Ronnie, darling, come over here and let's talk about old times."

She didn't look so thrilled about that, but she came over to the table and sat down. As they started to talk I walked away and explored more of the room. I went over to the table where the gadgets were sitting and looked at them. I wondered what some of them did. One of them looked like some weird type of ray gun, another looked like a grappling hook, and others that I had no idea what they did. I then noticed a mannequin in the corner with only the bottom half of a suit on. It was dark blue with black boots on. I wondered whose suit that was and if it was finished. I explored a little more of the room before I sat down on a couch along the walls. I looked over at Edna and Mom. Edna was busily yapping away about something while Mom nodded, but I could easily tell that she was bored out of her mind. I then looked at the machine that was making my suit. The robot arms were moving in a blur, but I definitely could see the suit starting to take shape. It was fascinating to look at, but it was also incredibly boring. I yawned unconsciously. I stretched out slightly and rested my head on my arm. I felt like I was about to doze off, but I…

"Jessica, wake up, hon." Mom was lightly tapping me on the shoulder.

"What? What's going on?" I was looking around trying to find out what was going on.

"You fell asleep," she told me. "Your suit's ready."

"Already? It's been an hour?"

"Yes, it has." She helped me onto my feet. "Come on. E's about to demonstrate your suit's abilities."

I slowly stood up and we went over to the large display in the back where Edna was waiting for us. We each took a seat in three large chairs.

"Alright, let's start the fashion show," Edna said. "Be proud, darling, your suit's the best work I've done in five years."

A door on one side opened up and the mannequin that my suit was made around came through and slowly moved along a track. Wow, I could definitely say that my suit looked great up close. The suit was just so black and everything so orange. I was beyond impressed.

"Okay, darling," Edna said. "I've designed your suit with your basic nanotube-based fibers. As I said already, it's bulletproof and fireproof."

Just then six machine guns popped out and started shooting at the suit. The bullets easily bounced off it. The guns stopped firing and went back into the wall, only to be replaced by an immense wall of fire. My eyes widened and my jaw dropped. Man, this was some demonstration! I looked over at Mom and Edna. Mom just sat there with some interest while Edna had the biggest grin I've ever seen. The fire stopped and I was surprised to see that it was completely unburned and still looked just as bright and radiant as before.

"Your suit can take temperatures up to 6000 degrees Fahrenheit," she went on. "The gloves are capable of enhancing your fire powers to quite a degree, so watch out. Oh, and don't worry, the suit cools down immediately after flight. Well, what do you think?"

I was speechless. "Wow, it's…amazing," I said.

"Yes, I know I am, Jessie."

The mannequin continued on the track and then went through another door and came out into the room. Edna went over and took the suit off the mannequin. She neatly folded it up into a box and closed it up and wrapped it up with, surprise, surprise, expensive-looking wrapping paper. She then handed it to me.

"Here you go, darling," she said. "One genuine super suit made by yours truly, Edna Mode, fashion designer extraordinaire. Now, is there anything else I could do for you?"

"No, I think that's it," I told her. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, darling." She turned to my mother. "That reminds me, Ronnie. It's time for you to get a new suit."

My mom raised her eyebrows in surprise. "What? But I only had my current suit for three years."

"It's a rag now, darling. Styles change. You have to keep up with the times, go with the flow, all that stuff."

"It doesn't look all that out of date," Mom argued. "I think it still looks stylish."

Edna sighed. "Of course, you would, Ronnie. That's why I'm a fashion designer and you're not. I've got an eye for detail. Trust me, it's out of date. Fine, you can keep the rag, but I'm still going to design you a new suit."

Just then a loud beeping went off. Edna pulled out a beeper and looked at it. She then groaned. "Great, just great. Some people just can't do anything right. I have to go. I trust that you can find your way out of here. Do stop by again, Ronnie, or at least call me. We have so much to talk about. Ta, ta, darlings." She went over to another door and went through it.

After Mom and I made our way out of the secret room and out of the mansion, I asked her. "You still think she's not crazy, Mom?"

"For the last time, Jessica, she's not crazy," she told me. "She's just…off, that's all."

"So you're saying that she's crazy then."

She sighed heavily. "Okay, I admit it. She's a little crazy, a _little. _Are you happy now?"

I smiled a little. "Yeah, I am, _Ronnie._"

She groaned loudly. "Jessica, please. I don't like that nickname, and I don't want you to start calling me that. I'm sure that you wouldn't want me calling you Jessie all the time like your aunt now, would you?"

It was my turn to groan. "Yeah, you're right. I still think that Ronnie's a cool nickname."

Mom chuckled. "Yeah, you would."

"I still want to know how she blew up her own house."

"It's like I said, it's a very long story. I'll tell you all about it someday. Come on, let's go home."

With that, we climbed into the truck and left the mansion grounds and headed back toward the city.


	10. The Secret Room

_Author's note: I'm really sorry to announce that I'm gonna have to put this story on temporary hold. Unfortunately things have become so busy for me that I cannot continue the story at this time. Don't worry, I'm not quitting this story and have every intention of finishing it. I'm glad that I have fans for my story as well. I'll try to update ASAP, but I don't know when that will be. Again, I'm really sorry for this, but that's the way life is, I suppose. With that, enjoy this chapter and please review. Thank you. _

**Chapter 10**

I admit that the second thoughts that I had before we got my new suit came creeping back by the time we arrived back at home. I think that the experience at Edna's mansion was so overwhelming, not to mention totally strange, that I forgot about my reluctance of being a super and my decision to no longer be involved in what was going on. Getting my own super suit didn't help matters, either. It was like I said earlier, getting a suit made me feel like I was now committed to becoming a hero, and I knew that I just wasn't ready and in a way probably never will be. I knew that Mom was right when she said that something could always happen, but at the moment I didn't really care. When I got involved in the fight at the mall, not only did I almost die but I almost killed a person myself. God, what would've happened to me if I really did end up strangling Leon to death? I didn't think that I would be able to live with myself. How could my mother live with the fact that she killed three people, even if it was in self defense? How could _any _super live with the fact that they can kill a person just like that? I guess that they were able to accept the fact that situations like that just came with the job. Still, it had to be extremely hard for them to deal with something like that, and I'm certain that I wasn't the only super in the world who was so terrified of their powers that they swore off ever becoming a hero.

I looked down at the box in my hands that contained my new suit and sighed. I was starting to wish that we never went out and had it made. It represented the very thing that I was hoping that I would never become. Now that I had a suit, I was wondering what I would actually do with it. I highly doubted that I would be wearing it anytime soon. I couldn't just throw something like that away or give it away to anyone else. I probably could just simply hide it away and be done with it. That would probably mean that I would never get to try it on as it would more than likely be too small for me in a year of two. I'm not going to lie, I really did want to try it on. I wanted to see how it would look on me and how it felt to wear. I wanted to know how just much the gloves would enhance my fire powers. I knew though that I couldn't do it. That would be like giving in. So why did I agree on getting a suit that I would probably never wear? I really don't know. Maybe I just didn't want to disappoint Mom or Edna. Maybe I just got so caught up in the moment that I couldn't really do anything but agree. I mean, I probably could've said no at any time, and now I had a suit that I didn't want. I was sorry that I had to disappoint them, but that was the way I felt and it seemed unlikely that I was ever going to change my mind.

I also took some time during the drive home to think about exactly what this Project Etybonan really was. What exactly was the word Etybonan? Was it even a word? Could it be an acronym for something? There was something weird about that word, I just knew it. I couldn't put my finger on it, though. All I knew about it was that it involved the destruction of Metroville and the possible involvement of ATI, the company where my dad worked. How exactly was Metroville going to be destroyed? It was no big secret that ATI created advanced and even classified weaponry for the military. Were some of these weapons going to be used? I thought of the men we fought at the mall yesterday and saw that they were wearing uniforms that were made by ATI. Were they a part of this? What exactly did they hope to accomplish by robbing a First MetroBank branch in a busy shopping mall? It didn't make any sense. This whole thing didn't make any sense. Could all this be the work of some new supervillian? There hadn't been a supervillian attack on Metroville in ten years. I was too young at that time to remember, but I heard that it was a villain named the Atomizer. He had this weapon called a nuclear accelerator cannon. Don't ask me how it worked because I never seen it in action, well actually, I've never seen it at all. Anyway, he threatened to use this cannon on Metroville unless he was paid a ransom of a hundred million dollars. In the end he was taken down by the Incredibles, although it all didn't go to plan and they nearly lost their lives in the process. Since then there had been no major attack on the city or even a hint of a supervillian plot, at least until now.

Whatever was going on, I told myself as well as Leon that this was no longer my problem. My involvement in this had caused me only nothing but trouble from the get-go. It was making me paranoid. I just had to stop and not continue with this any longer. Did that mean that I no longer cared what might happen to Metroville? Of course I did. I cared very deeply about Metroville. It was my hometown. I was born and raised there. If something terrible ever happened to it, I would be totally heartbroken. At the same time, though, I figured that I didn't have much of a chance to do any good anyway. I mean, we weren't the only supers in Metroville. Of course, there weren't nearly as many supers in Metroville as there were during the Golden Age, and unfortunately the Incredibles were no longer around. That didn't mean that the other supers in the city weren't great. There was my mother Electricia, Prototron, Meteor-Mite, Sky Hawk, and a few others. There was also that woman at ATI who was supposed to be a super herself. I began think a little more about this woman. If she was a super, then why couldn't she stop this herself? Was it all too much for her to handle alone? If that was the case, then why did she contact Leon and Chance to have them contact me? We seemed to be the most unlikely bunch of supers to be of much use in something as big as this. Weren't there other supers that she could contact? Not only that, I never wanted to be involved in anything like this at all. I felt like I had been dragged kicking and screaming into someone else's fight. If she knew about me as much as Leon told me, then she should've known that I wanted to keep myself a secret. It was so infuriating to know that someone out there knew about me but I didn't have even the slightest idea who she was. I thought that it would only be fair if she would at least give us a hint to who she really was. She did seem to know my dad, but that was no real help. Hundreds of women worked at ATI. However, I was willing to bet that few of them were top-level like our mysterious friend. That narrowed it down, but I was still in the dark. Maybe it really could be as simple as asking my dad.

The only problem, when we arrived back at home we saw that Dad wasn't even back yet. Now I was really starting to worry, actually more like I was getting scared. It was after five in the evening. Normally he would be home by now, but he hadn't been since yesterday morning. Something was terribly wrong here, I just knew it. I knew that there was the slightest of chances that I could be overreacting and that he was out doing something with his colleagues, but every fiber of my being was screaming that something was going on here, something very bad. I wondered if I should tell Mom about everything I knew. I know that I've been saying that for the past two days, but during that time I was very unsure of hat was really going on. I still was, but I felt that I knew a little more now than when this first started, and even that wasn't all that much. However, it looked like I didn't really have to say anything, because Mom seemed to sense that something was wrong with this, also.

"Where is he?" she asked more to herself than anything. "They can't have him working on some project this long."

She parked the truck in the garage and turned off the engine, but still sat there for a moment. She was staring straight ahead at the wall, not really moving much. It was very obvious that she was thinking very deeply, and that it had to do with Dad. I was wondering what exactly she was thinking about this whole situation.

"Mom, is everything okay?" I asked her.

"What?" She seemed startled by my voice, but she quickly regained herself. "Oh, yeah. Everything's fine, honey. I'm just thinking of something, that's all.

She got out of the truck and I followed close behind. I knew by the way she was walking that she thought that everything was not okay. I couldn't blame her either. I was thinking the same thing. Once in the living room she went over to the phone and checked the answering machine. There were no new messages. She stood there for a moment longer before she picked up the phone and dialed a number.

"Hello, is Stephen Wells there?" She was calling ATI. "May I speak to him please? This is his wife calling….Yes, I'll hold." She was shifting slightly side-to-side on her feet. It was a sign of nervousness. After about a minute she spoke again. "He's busy? May I ask what he is doing at this time?...Oh, well, please tell him to call home immediately, okay?...Thank you."

She hung up the phone and stood there for a while with what looked like a very worried expression on her face. I definitely didn't like the sound of that conversation. I haven't seen her look that worried in a very long time. In fact, I didn't think that I've ever seen her look like that. It was actually scaring me. After a few moments she let out a small sigh, cleared her face of that worried expression, and then looked at me.

"You might want to put that suit in a safe place," she said. "Here, follow me."

I looked down at the box that was still in my hands. I forgot that I was still carrying it. I followed her into the kitchen where she opened up the door that led down into the basement. We went down the stairs and into the dark basement. I rarely ever went down there as there was really no reason for me to. All that was really down there was the washer and dryer and several other things we put down there to keep out of the way. She led me over to the far wall. I was about to ask her what we were doing over there when she raised her left arm and tapped something on her watch. To my absolute amazement, part of the wall slid open and revealed a secret room! I knew that it shouldn't have been much of a shock to me since I was sure that she had some secret compartment or something that she hid her suit. I never expected that she had a whole room hidden behind the basement wall, though. It was probably why I never came across it. After I found out that I was a super, I went around the house searching for any evidence of a secret room but I never went down into the basement. When I was four, my uncle told me a stupid story about how there were monsters that lived in the basement and waited for young kids that wondered down there so that they could snatch them. Yeah, I know how crazy and unbelievable that sounds, but I'm sure that when you were four you believed practically anything your relatives told you. I even believed the story about the monsters hiding under your bed for a short time. Anyway, that story scared me so much that I refused to go down in the basement for a few years. My parents tried to set me straight, but I refused to believe them. By the time I discovered my powers at ten, I had outgrown my fear of any monsters but not of the basement. I still don't know why that is. In fact, even today I really didn't like going down there.

As amazed as I was when I saw the secret door open, that was nowhere near how I felt when I stepped inside the room. All along the walls were all types of newspaper articles, magazine covers, and regular pictures of my mother. The main things, though, was the large computer terminal on the back wall and Mom's super suit that was hanging on the wall next to it. I also noticed two more suits that were set in some type of large picture frame, but I couldn't tell whose suits they were from that angle. I was shocked speechless. It took a while before I was finally able to say the first thing that came to my mind.

"Whoa."

Mom smiled a little at that and then went inside. I followed her in. How could I have never known about this? How was this room even built? It couldn't have always been here, could it? Mom and Dad moved in this house about two years before I was born so maybe the room was built during that time. I didn't think anymore of that as my eyes were drawn toward the newspaper articles on the wall. Immediately one of them caught my attention. It said in bold letters, '**NEW SUPER MAKES SHOCKING APPEARANCE'.** I took a closer look and saw that it was dated March 24, 1976. In the black and white picture was my mother in her old Electricia suit with a small smile on her face and her arms crossed. She was standing in front of what looked like a jewelry store or something. Four huge men were being led away by police behind her. The one thing that stood out was how _young _my Mom looked back then. That shouldn't have been too much of a surprise since she was a teenager at that time. She only had a couple of pictures of herself as a teen so I never really saw how she really looked. For one thing, she had much longer hair back then. It was tied back in a ponytail but it was still obvious how long it was. Mom noticed me looking at the article and came over to me.

"That was my big debut as Electricia," she said. "Actually, that was the same day I came up with that name, too."

I was slightly surprised by that. "You didn't have a name yet?" I asked her.

"I was sorting through some ideas, but nothing really sounded good enough," she told me. "I started to call myself Electrogirl, but that sounded too close to Elastigirl. I also thought of Electroshock and Shocktra, but I really hated those names. Then, right when that picture was taken, the name Electricia hit me. I liked it and the name stuck."

"What happened that day?" I asked.

"Truthfully, I wasn't out there looking for a fight. I wasn't even expecting one. I was running to meet up with my friends at a movie theater downtown when I heard a lot of gunfire. People were running in all directions and screaming that Quincy's Jewelry Store was being robbed. It only took me a few seconds to decide to do something about it. I was wearing my suit under my clothes anyway, so I just went over to a nearby alley and took them off. Don't ask why I decided to wear my suit that day because I really don't know. I just did. Anyway, I took the direct approach and walked right in the front door. They didn't even notice me for a few seconds as they were too busy taking all the jewelry. When they finally saw me, they demanded to know who I was and what I was doing there. I just told them that I was there to put an end to their five-fingered discount. They just laughed and told me to get over with the rest of the hostages before they would shoot me. They also made the mistake of calling me a little girl. That's one thing that you should know, sometimes guys seriously underestimate female supers because they think that we're weaker than our male counterparts. It also pays off when you make your first appearance as a super because they don't know what you can actually do. It took about ten seconds for them to realize their mistake. That was how long it took me to shock them all unconscious. I was surprised that it was actually that simple to do. The police showed up about five minutes later."

"What happened then?" I asked her.

"Well, as you might expect, they were completely amazed by what they saw. Here were these huge muscle bound men that probably could've beaten them to a bloody pulp without breaking a sweat, and they were totally knocked out by a small and thin fifteen-year-old girl in ten seconds. I mean, it shouldn't have been that much of a surprise since they saw supers all the time. It was the fact that they've never seen me before. They asked a lot of questions, mainly who I was and what exactly did I do to them. After a few minutes the media arrived, and there's nothing like a new super appearing that makes a big splash in headlines. They wanted to make the front page picture look all dramatic, so they had me stand out in front of the jewelry store looking proud while the police led the men out of the store in handcuffs. I thought that it was a little too much, but they insisted so I just went ahead and did it. To tell you the truth, I hate that picture. You can still easily tell that I didn't like posing like that. I left quickly after they shot that so that they couldn't take any more."

"Did you like taking those men on?" I asked her.

"Actually, yes I did," she told me. "It was quite the rush, but I was also young and quite reckless. It almost cost me my life a couple of times. It made me learn that being a super was serious business. I want you to be serious about this, also. Still, I admit that there are times where I get a thrill out of taking down criminals. That's something you could never really get rid of. I'd like for you to remember that, okay?"

"I'll remember," I said.

I went around and looked at all the other articles and pictures on the wall. It was like looking back in time at all my mother's exploits. Most of them seemed to be robbery related, but I did notice a couple that seemed to say that she rescued people from burning buildings and crashed vehicles. I noticed a front cover of Hero Monthly, a magazine that is mainly about supers, in a picture frame. It was dated June 1982. It had a color picture of Mom in her old suit standing proud with her hands on her hips. Behind her was a background picture of storm clouds with a huge bolt of lightning coming out of them. The bold and highly stylized wording read, '**BEHIND THE SPARKS: THE FIRST REAL INTERVIEW WITH ELECTRICIA'. **I smiled at that and continued on. I saw a letter that seemed to be written by a small child. I read it to myself.

_Dear Electricia,_

_Thank you so very much for saving me and my family from our burning house. If you didn't rescue us we would be dead. You're very brave. You're my favorite superhero and when I grow up I want to be just like you. I hope you save lots more people and nothing bad happens to you. Goodbye and thank you again._

_Julie Hudson_

I felt extremely proud of my mother just then. I wondered how many lives she saved during her career. Probably more than she could count, I would presume. That was a lot more lives that wouldn't be alive today if she wasn't around. I also wondered how many times she was almost killed when helping others. I knew that it was a very selfish thought since supers almost always put the lives of others ahead of their own, but I couldn't help it. I couldn't imagine anything bad happening to my mother. I couldn't even begin to wonder what I would feel like if she was killed in action. I knew that I was going to have to live with that possibility for a long while.

My eyes came across an unopened video cassette tape sitting on a shelf just above me. I reached up and picked it up. Looking at the dust-covered case, I saw that it was an episode of Super Power Hour that had Mom as a guest star. I smiled a little and shook my head in slight amusement. Super Power Hour was a cartoon show about supers that aired on Saturdays from the late seventies to the mid eighties. It centered around a team of supers called the Thrilling Trio and took place in a city called Super City. Sounds stupid already, doesn't it? I actually remember watching some of the last episodes way back when I was in kindergarten and at a time when I enjoyed such stuff. While the Thrilling Trio and Super City were fictional, they had real supers as guest appearances. Interestingly enough, Mom never told me that she appeared in the show. I wondered why that was. I bet that the answer would be quite good. I turned around and held the tape up.

"Mom, what's this?" I asked her with a slight smirk on my face.

She groaned loudly and I swore I saw her turn slightly red. "Oh, um, that's something Steve bought me a while ago," she said. "Yes, I was in that show as guest super number fifteen, and I wish that I turned down their offer to appear in it. For one thing, I don't know what actress they hired to play my voice, but I don't talk or sound anything like that. Second, don't even get me started on the plot. This villain call the Delighter shuts off the power of the entire country, and in the end they have me use my powers to light it back up! Oh my God, that was so beyond ridiculous it's…ugh! They should've at least done their homework before asking me for my likeness! Did they really think that I can generate enough electricity to power up the entire United States? I can power up maybe a sixth of Metroville, _maybe_, but not an entire country! What did they think I was, a superhuman power plant or something?" She stopped when she saw my weird expression to her outburst. "Sorry about that," she told me with a slightly embarrassed smile. "I still get worked up about that. It's just that I felt so cheated that they use my likeness and then make me sound so stupid and corny and over exaggerate my powers by a factor of, I don't know, a _billion_. At least they gave me a check of a thousand dollars, but even that wasn't worth much."

"Why did you even agree to that in the first place?" I asked her.

"I felt that I needed a little extra publicity and exposure," she told me. "Well, I got exposure, alright. It made a lot of people believe that I really can power up all of America in an emergency. I tell them that I can't do that, and they don't believe it. I just gave up and let them believe what they want. It wasn't worth the trouble. I should've sued that company for every cent and then some."

"So if you hated it so much, then why did you let Dad buy this for you?" I asked.

"I didn't let him buy it for me," she replied. "He just bought it one day. Believe me, I would've gotten rid of it immediately if I didn't appreciate the gesture very much. It's now basically there to remind me not to make stupid mistakes like that again. Besides, it might one day become a rare collector item."

Well, at least I could now see why she never told me about that. Man, if someone screwed me up like that, knowing my temper I would probably march right down to the studio and torch the place. I would definitely remember that in case I was ever approached with a cartoon deal in the future. I chuckled to myself as I set the tape back on the shelf.

My mood changed completely when I saw the two suits in the frame on the wall. One of them was red orange and black with an 'M' on the front, the other purple and turquoise, and they were both absolutely _destroyed_. They were both badly torn and had huge stains of blood on them. One of them was completely missing its left sleeve and the other part of its right sleeve and leg. I immediately knew what I was looking at. They were the suits of my grandparents, Magman and Starfury. Holy God, Mom told me that it was bad, but it wasn't even close to what I was seeing right then. If the suits looked like that, then I couldn't even begin to imagine how they were killed. The ruined suits were also a reminder of how many supers Syndrome killed with his Omnidroids twenty years earlier. I wondered if Mom would be among them if she started superhero work earlier than she had. How was she able to deal with something as brutal and tragic as this? There was no way in hell I'd be able to if something like that happened to her. She did tell me that she took their deaths pretty hard, but I still admired her for seemingly getting over it. Even though I never met my grandparents as they were killed before I was born, I still felt a great sense of loss. Almost unconsciously, I placed my right hand on the cold glass of the frame and slowly moved my fingers across it.

"Absolutely horrible, isn't it?" Mom said in a quiet voice from behind me. "I could've told you a million times just how mangled and bloody those suits were, and it still wouldn't mean anything until you've seen the suits for yourself. Now you know just how brutal their deaths really were."

"Why…why do you have them hanging here on the wall?" I asked in a voice barely louder than a whisper.

"To remind me who I am and how I got here," she said simply. "Also to honor their memory."

I was really shaken by seeing those mangled suits. I really needed to get out of the room right then. I had to clear my head and think. "I need to get some air," I told Mom.

"Of course," she said sympathetically. "Here, I'll go ahead and put your suit away. I'm really sorry that seeing that disturbed you so much."

I didn't say anything else as I left the secret room and went back upstairs. I wanted to go down to the park but at the same time I didn't feel like walking that far. I decided to go out into the backyard. Once out in the yard, I sat down in one of the lawn chairs on our patio. It was a perfect warm night so it should help me think. As I said, I was really shocked when I saw those suits. I was wondering how Mom could just hang them on the wall like that instead of bury them with her parents. I remembered that she did say that the NSA gave her the suits when she was staying with her aunt and uncle. Maybe she never even saw their bodies. I don't think that anyone would've wanted to if the suits were any example. I then began to ask myself if something like that happened to Mom and I received her destroyed suit, would I have it buried along with her or would I frame it and hang it on the wall. The truthful answer to that is that I wouldn't know. I could easily say that I would have buried it with her, but in reality I just didn't know. I could see the reason why Mom had the suits of her parents framed, and maybe that could be a reason I would do the same, to remember her by. I honestly hoped that I would never see that day though.

I got up out of the chair and went over to the tree in our yard. It was the same tree that I accidentally blasted with a fireball four years ago. The burn mark had long since been covered over with bark, but you could still see some traces of it if you look close enough. I don't know why I did it, but I placed my hand on the spot of the burn and then let my hand glow bright orange. I heard the wood begin to burn and then I could smell it. I then took my hand away and saw my burned handprint on the tree. I could also see small wisps of smoke coming off the burn. For some reason I actually felt better when I did that, and a small smile came to my lips.

I figured that I spent enough time outside so I should go in. I started to head to the sliding glass door but stopped after a few steps. I don't know what was going on, but for some reason I suddenly got a strange feeling. I didn't know exactly what it was. I actually looked around but didn't see anything. I thought that I was just being stupid and started moving again. Unfortunately, I didn't get two steps before I was suddenly grabbed from behind and a gloved hand came over my mouth.


	11. Stranger in the Night

_Author's note: Whew! Yes, I finally updated this! Yeah, I know that it's been a while, but like I said, I was really busy lately. I'll try to update the next chapter as soon as I can, but no guarantees. So with that, enjoy and like always, send in reviews. Pretty please? _

**Chapter 11**

'_Oh my God! Oh my God!' _I thought through a cloud of sheer panic.

It happened so fast that it was all I could really do at that moment. One moment I was headed back into the house after being outside to think, and the next I was being held tightly from behind and a gloved hand was covering my mouth. I was so shocked by this sudden event that I couldn't make any kind of noise or even fight back. I was able to look down at the glove the person was wearing, though. It was either black or a very dark color. I couldn't tell because it was almost total night and the light was so low. Frantic thoughts were blazing through my mind, things like what did this person want and what was going to happen to me.

A few seconds after I was caught the person spoke into my ear in a very low voice. "I'm not going to hurt you, okay? You have to trust me on that. I'm just here to talk to you. I need to blindfold you, though. I can't let you know who I am just yet because it might put both of us at risk. I'm already taking a huge chance just talking to you right now. Don't worry, everything will be alright. I'm going to remove my hand from your mouth if you promise not to scream. Nod your head if you understand."

It was a woman's voice. I couldn't tell exactly who she was, but I already had the feeling that she was our mysterious woman friend from ATI. The fact that she was wearing gloves more than likely meant that she was wearing her super suit as well. I couldn't tell which super she was because she was disguising her voice so well and I didn't know the color of her gloves. While I felt myself somewhat relax from knowing that it wasn't some rapist or someone like that, I didn't like the fact that she wanted to blindfold me. Why did she want to hide her identity from me? Was she ashamed of herself or something? Did she have yet to fully trust me? I couldn't see why if she was the one who contacted us in the first place. Why was she even here in our backyard to begin with? Was every super in Metroville spying on me or something? God, what was up with that? I wasn't that fascinating to look at, was I? Was this some sort of game or something, spy on the reluctant super and see how they react under such circumstances and then reveal themselves when the time was right? They might enjoy it, but I sure as hell didn't. I was getting severely pissed off. All this spying was going to end right here, right now. However, I couldn't tell her that or learn why she was here unless I agreed to be blindfolded. I didn't like that idea at all. I mean, I was almost sure that she didn't mean me any harm, but I still had that lingering doubt. I also knew that I didn't have any other choice. I had to trust her on this, so I slowly nodded my head.

"Good," she said. "I'm about to remove my hand now, and I'm trusting you not to scream. I'm sure that you're trusting me not to hurt you as well. I promise you that I'm not here to do that, so I guess we'll just have to trust each other. Okay, here we go."

She removed her hand and immediately wrapped a cloth around my eyes. Despite her promise that she wasn't going to hurt me, I was still incredibly nervous. My breathing was shallow and my heart was pounding so loudly in my chest that I was certain that we both could hear it. After she tied the cloth tightly around my eyes, she carefully led me away from the patio. Judging by the way she was guiding me, I figured that she was moving me toward the center of our backyard and away from anything that I could stumble over. It was a nice gesture to ensure that I wouldn't get hurt, but I still wasn't ready to completely trust her yet. Only a fool trusts a total stranger completely, well, that and a certain younger cousin of mine, but I won't go there.

"Are you that woman super that works at ATI?" I asked her.

I heard her chuckle. "Somehow I knew that you were about to ask that," she said. "I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised by that. Anyway, yes I am. Was it really that obvious?"

"It was just a guess," I told her. "Was it really necessary to blindfold me if you are, though? I mean, couldn't you have just told me who you were?"

"I probably could've, but I can't," she said. "Not yet anyway. Maybe later. The reason is complicated, so don't ask. If it makes you feel any better, Leon and Chance haven't seen me, either. I've only talked to them over their phone so far."

"What would make me feel better is if you tell me what you're doing in our backyard," I said. "You're not spying on me, too, are you? I'm getting tired of supers spying on me, and I want it to stop."

She chuckled again. "That's such a strong word, don't you think? I wouldn't exactly call it spying. It's more like keeping surveillance."

I couldn't believe this! This was just totally unreal! "_Keeping surveillance?_ So you _are _spying on me as well! God, first Leon and now you! This is just crazy! What is up with this? I can't go anywhere without some super looking over my shoulder or something? Has my life suddenly got so important or interesting or something that it attracted every super in the region? Or is it just something you're doing for fun? Well, tell me!"

She stayed quiet for a moment and then said, "Now that you're done, I can tell you the reason why, and keep your voice down. The last thing we need right now is your mother or neighbors coming out to investigate. I'd like for this to be a secret conversation between just the two of us, not the entire neighborhood, alright?"

It took a minute for me to calm down somewhat, but I was still very upset about this whole thing. I'm sure anyone else would be as well if they found out that they were being spied on, super or not. However, and I _really _hated to think this, there was probably some good reason behind this. Like she said, revealing herself could put both of us at risk. I didn't understand that. What kind of risk was she talking about? She did say that she was taking a huge chance just speaking to me at that moment. What exactly did that mean? Was someone out to get her or something? Or was it that her position at ATI meant that she couldn't risk being seen by anyone? What if I was already in danger? Even though I probably knew that I already was, I still wasn't ready to let this go just yet. I was going to get to the bottom of this whole thing and find out what was really going on. If that meant that it could put me further at risk, then so be it. Of course, I could easily say that right then and regret it later, but that was how upset I was at that moment. Besides, I'm sure we've all said something like that before.

"Okay, I'm better now," I said. "But I would still like for you to tell me exactly what's going on here."

"We'll get to that in a moment," she told me. "First, I would like for you to tell me all you know so far."

All I knew? It wasn't very much, but I went ahead and told her. "I know that there has been the theft of important stuff from ATI and that my dad might be working on projects that could destroy this city and he probably doesn't even know it. I also know that this whole thing is under a project codenamed Etybonan. That's all I really know so far."

"Etybonan," the woman repeated the word. I heard her laugh to herself and then mutter something under her breath that I didn't catch. Right then I had a positive feeling that she knew what that strange word meant, but before I could ask her, she then said to me, "Tell me, what do you know about nanotechnology?"

"Nanotechnology?" I heard of that word before on some show on TV, but I didn't have the slightest clue what that meant. Why would she ask me something like that in the first place? "I don't know anything about it."

"It's the study and technological development on the nanometer scale," she explained. She must've seen the lost look on my face, the part that she could see anyway, because she added, "Basically, extremely tiny stuff. In this case, tiny robots."

Tiny robots? Now this was just getting even more confusing. What was she talking about? What did tiny robots have anything to do with this? It had to be important though if she was bringing it up, although I really couldn't see how at the moment.

"I can see that you're still not following me," she said. "I guess I'd better explain the whole story." She stopped for a moment and then continued talking. "For about ten years now, ATI had been researching nanotechnology for civilian applications. At first, the studies were mainly for medical purposes, but we quickly found out the potential of nanotech. For example, the nanotube fibers in our super suits were a result of that research. The overall potential of nanotech is almost limitless. Imagine forty or fifty years from now, microscopic-sized robots and machines that are just as common as any modern device today. Imagine those tiny machines building and repairing other machines and computers, making everything from clothing to skyscrapers, and even repairing our own bodies and making us live a lot longer. Now imagine those same machines being used as a weapon. You're talking about destruction the likes of which have never been seen before. And I'm afraid that scenario is what just might happen to Metroville."

She stopped speaking and I was about to ask her what she was talking about but she continued on. "Two years ago, we made a significant breakthrough in nanotech research and actually created robots the size of a penny. We gave them the name nanobots. A little later we discovered how to give these nanobots roughly the same intelligence of an insect. That is extremely significant. That might not sound like much to the average person, but insects are a lot smarter than most people think. On top of all that, six months ago we've accidentally found a way to have them make copies of themselves at an almost frighteningly fast pace. Still, all this was for civilian purposes only, but it won't take much effort to turn this into a weapon. See where I'm going with this now?"

I didn't really see it. In fact, to me it didn't really make sense. "So you're saying these nanobots may be unleashed on Metroville and probably destroy it? How is that possible? How could penny-sized robots destroy a city this big?"

"A lot easier than you could imagine," she replied. "For example, think of soldier ants. By themselves, they're tiny and relatively harmless. However, a whole colony of them can cut a wide swath through a rainforest and leave virtually nothing behind. Now replace soldier ants and rainforest with nanobots and Metroville and you can see what I'm talking about."

"Oh God," I said softly. I then remembered one night a few years ago when I watched a nature documentary with my dad. It was featuring soldier ants and I remembered thinking about how could such small insects cause such destruction to a rainforest. It was unbelievable, and to think that tiny robots could cause the same devastation to a city as huge as Metroville was almost unimaginable.

"Now you can see just how serious this situation really is," she said. "Not a very pretty picture as you can imagine."

"Do you know who's behind this?" I asked her.

"All evidence points to our grand esteemed CEO, John Harriman," she replied in an almost sarcastic tone. "I'm still not a hundred percent sure, but I think that I'm pretty close. I can't really investigate any further without blowing my cover. I'm already pushing it enough as it is. But yeah, I'm fairly certain that it's him, but I need more proof to be absolutely sure."

Mr. Harriman was my dad's boss, and very likely hers as well. I've never met him personally, but I definitely knew a lot about him, mainly from TV, newspaper articles, and from my dad. Dad talks about him a lot at home, and some of the things he say I won't even dare repeat. But that only added on to my already growing confusion. It was very hard to picture him as any kind of villain. He was tall and thin with dark but graying hair as he was in his mid-forties and was kind of handsome looking. According to Dad, he could be a real tyrant at times but that still didn't make him out to be a villain. However, I suppose that it could be true that appearances can be deceiving.

"Why would he do something like that?" I asked.

"That's something that I would love to figure out," she said. "Again, I can't get any closer without drawing attention to myself. But even the evidence I already got is still very circumstantial. It still doesn't really prove that he's behind this. Either someone's pointing the blame towards him or he's really great at misleading people. But if he's really behind this, then it doesn't make any sense. He runs one of the largest companies in this country. What's the real point of giving that up to destroy a whole city?"

"He's probably getting tired of it or something," I said more to myself. "Why use those nanobots to destroy Metroville, though? Wouldn't a nuke work better, not that I want that or anything?"

"Well, yeah, a nuke could work better, but there are huge problems with that. One, ATI doesn't have any nuclear weapons. I mean, we do have some uranium but it's not weapons grade. It's just there for researching a better nuclear reactor design. It's also near impossible to just steal one from the military and not have them know it. Two, detonating a nuclear bomb on American soil could more than likely lead to World War III and the end of human life as we know it. Not a very desirable outcome for anyone even if they were just trying to make a point. Three, even if you could get away with detonating a nuke and making it look like an accident, there's still that little problem called radiation. It could render the land unusable for decades. By using nanobots, you could actually get the same results of a nuclear weapon if not more and make it look like an accident. It wouldn't be as fast, though. The nanobots could probably eat their way through Metroville in about a week, but it would be enough."

I couldn't believe what this woman was revealing to me. This whole thing sounded way beyond ridiculous. Tiny robots attacking and destroying Metroville and may be caused by my dad's boss. It would sound like it would've came right out of one of those corny sci-fi movies. But this was real life and she definitely didn't sound like she was joking. Why would she go through all that trouble if she was? Besides, this definitely wasn't the first time that robots would attack this city. However, there were only a few of them and were as big as a two-story house. These nanobots were the size of a penny, and by the way this woman was talking about them, it sounded like there would be millions if not billions of them at once. How could anyone, super included, stop something like that?

Before we went on with anything else, there was something that I had to know right then and there. "I need to know this right now," I said to her. "Is my dad involved in any of this? Tell me truthfully."

She remained quiet for a long moment and then replied, "In a way, yes. You see, your father and I were part of the same team that created the nanobots, as well as some of the other stuff that I suspect may be used in this. At the time, I didn't think that the nanobots of anything else that we worked on could be used in this way. I mean, I already knew that some of those things were dangerous, but not like this. In fact, I only knew about the possible danger to this city from stumbling across a strange-looking memo two weeks ago. Since then I've been sneaking around trying to learn more. I've learned most that I could, but I've now hit a dead end. That's the main reason why I needed you to learn more about your dad, to see if he probably knew something that I didn't. I never once suspected that your dad was involved intentionally in this plot. He's likely the same way I was before, working on things that could be used to destroy Metroville and not even know it."

While I was somewhat relieved that she told me that he wasn't a prime suspect in this, I still couldn't shake the eerie feeling that he was in some way involved. After a moment I went ahead and told her something else. "He hasn't been home for two days straight now. I think that my mom suspects that something's wrong. She hasn't said anything but I can definitely sense it on her face. Is something else going on?"

She remained quiet for a long time. Even though I couldn't see anything with the blindfold, I could tell that she was thinking about that very deeply. She finally said, "I wouldn't quite call that suspicious just yet. It's not unusual for people to stay there for a few days without going home. We actually have bunkrooms set up for that. In fact, I once stayed there for two whole weeks without going home. It wasn't fun, but I had no choice in that matter. Anyway, I'll look into that and find out what's going on. Will that be okay?"

"Yes, thank you." While I was grateful that she would do that, something started bugging me. Why did she take that long pause just to tell me that? Was it something else? I had no other real choice but to trust her on that, but it only made me all the more curious. I then asked her. "I have to know, why us? Why Leon, Chance, and me? Don't you think that we'd make quite an unlucky team for something this big? Besides, if you knew about me, then you would know that I hate my powers and hoped to never use them again. So, why us?"

"Well, this is a bit complicated," she said. "As I said, I needed to know if your father or anyone else on the team knew something that I didn't. As I was working undercover, I couldn't let anyone else in on what I found yet. It's just like that famous X-Files saying, Trust No One. Anyway, there were at least fifty other people on the team, and any one of them could know more. So why you three? Well, besides your dad, the Hardings have an aunt that works there and was also on the team. I also had the added benefit of us being good friends, although she doesn't know that I'm a super. But even with that, I still couldn't clue her in on what was going on. I wanted to, but I just couldn't take that chance. I needed a way to get information, but I also have a rule that I go by. I don't spy on anyone unless they are either villains or if they are in extreme danger. I know that it's an invasion of privacy and I'd be furious if I found out that someone was spying on me."

Wait a second. Did she just say that she didn't spy on anyone unless they were villains of were in danger? The last time I checked, I certainly wasn't a villain. Did that mean that I was in danger? That seemed to be the main reason why she blindfolded me. I wasn't even all that surprised anyway. I figured that my involvement in this was putting me in extreme danger and that was certainly proven yesterday. And what did she mean that she would be furious if she saw someone spying on her? How did she think I felt when I found out that she as well as Leon and Chance were spying on me? Somehow I really don't think that I was ecstatic and jumping for joy. She continued on before I could think much else.

"Anyway, I knew the Hardings' grandparents were supers. In fact, we joined forces a couple of times before. Although their son never had powers, they suspected their grandchildren, Leon and Chance, probably had them. Super genes can actually skip a generation or two, although that's very rare. I actually met both Leon and Chance when they were both still toddlers. I knew that they'd be perfect for this since their aunt lives with them for the time being. I pondered for a while on how to contact them before deciding to just call them. So last Sunday I did just that and talked to Leon. It took a helluva long time to convince him that something was up and he almost hung up on me three times. I finally got through to him and he said he'd he help me anyway he could."

"Now, as for where you come in, in a way it was quite by accident. I was checking the school system website to see which school they would be attending when I saw that you and Chance had the same homeroom at Washington High. I knew for a long time that your father married Electricia and had a daughter, you. I also suspected that you were a super long before that rumor surfaced. I knew your mother quite well back then before she got married but we weren't exactly friends, more like friendly rivals if anything. Anyway, I didn't want to risk contacting you myself, so I told Leon and Chance to do it for me and inform you on what was going on and ask for your help. The rest, as they say, is history. Even with that, I didn't want you to get physically involved in this. Yes, I know about that little engagement at the Westville Mall yesterday. I have to say, while it was certainly impressive the way you handled, it was also incredibly risky and you almost got killed because of it."

"Hey, that was _not_ my fault!" I protested. "Mr. "Hot-Shot" Leon Harding is a hundred percent to blame for that. I wanted to get out of there along with everyone else, but he thought that he could handle it. I started to leave, but I only went back to help him because I got worried about him." I stopped because she brought up something that I wanted to ask her. "Those people that we fought at the mall were wearing ATI combat uniforms or something like that. What was that about? If what you're telling me is true, then what does robbing a First MetroBank branch and shooting up a mall have anything to do with nanobots?"

"Believe me, I stayed up all last night and all day today to try and figure that one out," she replied. "It doesn't make any sense. I guess that it might…" She stopped when a beeping noise went off. "I have to go. I've stayed here too long as it was. I want you to count to ten before you take off that blindfold and not one second earlier. I'll contact you later if I could. Start counting now."

I did as she asked and counted to ten. When I reached ten, I took off the blindfold and looked around. She was long gone. That was kind of eerie because I didn't even hear her leave. I was really wondering who she was and if the story that she told me was true. If it was then Metroville was in far greater danger than I previously thought. I shook my head and sighed loudly. God, what a strange three days these have been. I guess that the only question I could really ask at that moment was, what next?


	12. Hard Decisions

_Author's note: Happy 2006 everybody! I hope everyone had a good New Year's! So with that, like always, enjoy and review! _

**Chapter 12**

What next? Well, it was for me to scream at myself for asking such a stupid question like that to begin with, that's what. I should've known better than to ask that at a time like this.

I stood outside in the cooling night for a long time after the woman left. The backyard was as dark, still, and quiet as it was when I first came out here. It was almost as if she never appeared. I knew better, though. The proof was right in my hand, the blindfold she tied around my eyes with. It didn't leave any clues to her identity, though. Even with that, during the last few moments of our conversation, I suddenly had the overwhelming feeling that I knew that voice even though she spoke very lowly and disguised it a bit. I mean, it wasn't enough to positively identify her, but it was more than enough to make me even more curious and really think about all she said. She did leave some clues behind during her talk. Both her and Dad were part of the team that created these so-called nanobots and that her and Mom had been "friendly rivals" before I was born. Not to mention that she actually met Leon and Chance when they were both still toddlers. However, that didn't mean that I could use any of those to find out who she really was. There was likely more than one woman that was on that team, and I was guessing that Leon and Chance probably wouldn't remember meeting her, either. I mean, who could remember anything that far back? I have trouble remembering people I've met two years ago, let alone from when I was a toddler myself. I figured that the only remote chance of guessing her identity would be that both she and Mom were and probably still are friendly rivals. Even with that, I was certain that she didn't want to be identified. Why else would she go through all that trouble of blindfolding me and disguising her voice if it was any other way? Still, I couldn't help but really think about it. I was always a curious person and when something really interests me I just have to wonder about it.

Speaking about my mother, it was back to the question of letting her in on this. I know that I've been thinking about that a lot and then backing out at the last second, but this time I was really serious about it. She said that she wanted no more secrets between us and told me more about herself. So why the hell was I still keeping something this big from her after three days? I've already answered that question before, that it was because I was afraid of her safety. And just like before, I countered that and told myself that she could more than likely handle any situation that came her way. Of course, that was just really more of a guess and wishful thinking on my part, but it was kind of comforting if anything. On top of all that, she already seems to suspect that something was wrong. Maybe she'll end up figuring it all out on her own. My mother had amazing intelligence. It was almost scary. She could figure out things that would leave Dad and I stumped and make me wonder how she was able to do it.

With that I make my decision. I was going to tell her everything, and there would be no holding back this time. I felt like I owed it to her anyway. Besides, she might be able to figure out who that woman was and what Etybonan means and then work along from there. She might question why I held this back from her, but that didn't seem to matter much. So with the decision made I put both hands to my face and rubbed my forehead and groaned to myself. All of this thinking was making my head hurt. I originally came outside to clear my head only to have some of them answered and replaced by many more. Kind of ironic, huh? I wondered if it was the swelling of my brain from the tons of info over the last three days that was making my head hurt. I wouldn't doubt it. They may even have a name for that, probably one of those ridiculously long and unpronounceable scientific names or something.

I finally went over to the sliding glass door and put my hand on the handle to open it, but not before I glanced across the backyard one more time. I don't know what I was expecting or even why I did it. It was probably because I didn't want any other last second surprises. I was satisfied and quickly went inside the house before that really did happen. It was now down to business. The first thing that struck me immediately was how quiet the place was. That really didn't mean anything. Mom could've just been in another room. Still, better to make sure than be sorry.

"Mom?" I called out. There was no answer. "Mom, are you here?" Again, no answer.

That still didn't mean anything. So she went out to get something. It was no big deal. Besides, when I was twelve my parents decided that I was responsible enough to be left alone at home if necessary and since then I was by myself at least a couple dozen times.. Man, I was getting myself worked up over nothing. On the other hand, if she had left I would've seen the lights of her truck reflect off either one of our neighbors' houses, although I wouldn't have been able to see it because I was blindfolded. So to make sure I walked through the kitchen and over to the door to the garage and opened it…only to be stunned to see that her truck was still parked inside.

Okay, now I had a reason to start to worry.

'_Okay, Jess,' _I thought to myself before panic started to take full hold. _'Just calm down. Let's think this through calmly and logically. Remember, Mom's Electricia. She probably got a call or seen something on the news and had to go. She'll handle whatever this situation is and be back before you know it. Besides, she's done this dozens of times before. Why would now be any different?'_

'_Why?'_ another voice inside my head argued. _'Because you know who your mother is now, that's why. You're worried that now you know her identity that something's going to happen to her, that's the reason. Anyway, how do you know that this wasn't some sort of trap? Think of it. You went outside and just before you came back in you were grabbed from behind by that woman who then blindfolded you and disguised her voice. If she's an ally, then why would she do that? Why couldn't she have just told you who she was from the beginning? I don't know about you, but that sounds kind of suspicious to me. She never did tell you exactly why she did that. Maybe it was to keep you at bay while something was happening to Mom inside the house. Even when she was telling you all those things you still didn't fully believe her and now you have the perfect reason.'_

'_Wait a sec,' _my other voice argued back. _'Hold up. Let's not jump to conclusions here. Yes, she may have acted strange, but that doesn't that she was part of some plot to kidnap my mother or something like that. And she did sort of tell me the reason why she blindfolded me. She said that knowing her identity could put me at risk. Of course, I was stupid enough not to ask her what exactly would put me at risk from that. Anyway, remember the key word of the week here is **circumstantial. **This could be just another case of that. So don't go diving off into the deep end of the pool without any water.'_

I shook my head to clear those thoughts. Now was not a good time to be having an argument with myself. However, it did raise a few key questions. I was almost totally certain that the woman told me most of the truth about what was going on, but at the same time I had the strong feeling that she hid a lot of things as well. That reason alone was more than enough for me not to fully trust her. At this point I wasn't really to fully trust anyone, not that woman, not Leon and Chance, not even, and I'm really sorry to admit this, my own parents. I mean, I still trusted my mother well enough, even though she's done some very strange lately. As for my dad, well, he's still a very sizable question mark at this time. I wanted to fully believe that he was totally innocent in all this. I even believed the story that the woman told me about him. However, there were still some major questions that needed to be answered before he could be totally cleared. I rubbed my head again as my headache returned. Wow, I must've been really thinking a lot tonight, and probably more than I had in years.

And that was probably the reason why I didn't notice the letter on the refrigerator just a few minutes earlier.

I came back into the kitchen to find some aspirin. The headache wasn't that bad, but it was kind of a nuisance. I wondered if it really was true that too much thinking was hazardous to your health. I knew that was very doubtful, but it was something to think about. Actually, forget that. No more thinking for me for the rest of the night. Just take a couple of pills and try to relax for now. I reached for the kitchen cabinet that had the aspirin when I noticed something on the fridge. It was some kind of letter. Why didn't I notice it earlier? I passed right by the fridge on the way to the garage door and I was usually an observant person. It was probably because I was too much in thought to see it. It would've definitely saved me a lot of trouble. I pulled the fridge magnet off the letter and took it down to read it.

_Jessica,_

_I'm going out for a little while. I'm not going to lie to you. I'm going out as Electricia. I figured that we shouldn't keep any more secrets from each other from now on. I'm still a little disappointed that you didn't trust me fully enough to tell me about yourself for all this time, but I suppose in a way that it was somewhat my fault as well. I never should've kept hidden the fact that I was Electricia from you, either. I hope that this doesn't make things too awkward between us. Obviously our mother-daughter relationship is going to change anyway, but I would actually like for this experience to make us even closer to each other than before. We can talk about this in far greater detail if you like. It doesn't have to be immediately so take all the time you need. You can also choose not to talk about it. I'm not going to push the issue and I'll leave the decision to you. Just please remember that no matter what, you're my daughter and I'll always love you and be there for you. I know that you're going to wonder why I'm out as Electricia, and I'm going to be straight with you on that. I'm worried about your father. My instincts are telling me that something's very wrong here. This just isn't like him. I have the feeling that you're worried about him, too. I would say not to worry, but it wouldn't make much difference if I'm worried at the same time. I can only say that I hope that nothing's happening to him. Believe me, when you're a super you learn to know that there are times when it's better to be safe than sorry. I don't know when I'll be back, but I hope to have some great news when I do. Until then, take care of the house and normal rules still apply. Things haven't changed that much. See you later._

_Love, Mom_

_P.S. This is a last second thing. I left you your own watch in your room. I'm not saying that anything's going to happen to me tonight. I just figured that it would be a good idea to have your own watch. As I said, better safe than sorry. To use it to open the door, twist the face a quarter clockwise then press the button on the left side. It only works within ten feet of the door. It probably isn't a good idea if you wore it all the time, though. There's a chance you could accidentally melt it. Take very good care if it. I'll see you soon._

I read and re-read the letter at least ten times before setting it down on the counter next to the fridge. To tell the truth, I really don't know how I was feeling at that moment. I guess that you could say that it was an equal mix of surprise, worry, and guilt. I wasn't surprised that she wrote that letter. Both her and Dad had done that countless times before to let me know where they went if I was out of the house. Just about all of those letters were short and to the point, mainly the _'I'm going to the store, be back in a few minutes, stay out of trouble' _type of thing. I was surprised by this one because of the length and detail. I was probably imaging this, and I desperately hoping that I was, but it seemed like although Mom was trying to reassure me that everything was going to be alright, she was sounding like she was actually expecting something to happen. That was what I was worried about. I knew that she could take care of herself, although at the same time I was really having a hard time trying to convince myself that. As for the guilty part, it was basically the same reason I went back and helped Leon inside the mall. This time, though, I was a lot more worried that this was my fault because I didn't tell her what was happening. There aren't really any other things that can make you feel guiltier than that. The worse part was that I really couldn't do anything about it at this time. There was no guarantee that even if I did tell her that she wouldn't have gone out anyway. The only thing I really could do was wait and hope.

"Good luck, Mom," I said out loud.

I decided to look at the watch that she left me in my room. I went upstairs into my room and immediately noticed it sitting on my dresser. I picked it up and examined it closely. It was black in color and looked just like any other normal watch you could buy. It was maybe a little bigger than most, though. And yes, it really did tell time. I chuckled at that thought. It seemed to be a gag in most superhero movies and comics that they can make these super cool watches that can do everything else _but _tell time. I guess that someone got it right this time around. I wondered how long Mom kept this for me. I wasn't going to disappoint her by not wearing it. I could use a new watch anyway. I slipped it around my left wrist and looked at it some more. I was still deciding if I wanted to try it on the secret door. I then figured that it could wait. I was in no hurry and it really wasn't a big deal. I noticed that the watch said that it was almost ten o'clock. Maybe they would have something about my mother on the news. I went back downstairs and into the living room. I sat down on the couch and turned on the TV just as the news was starting.

"_Good evening and welcome to KMVL Channel 4 News at Ten. Tonight's breaking news story, the four people who robbed the First MetroBank branch inside the Westville Regional Megamall yesterday were all found dead in their cells inside the Metroville Correctional Facility earlier today. We now go live to our reporter Ryan McCool who is live at the scene for the latest on this story. Ryan, what can you tell us?"_

"_Hello. At approximately six thirty this evening, correctional officers here at the Metroville Correctional Facility noticed that the four men were lying dead in their cells. As of this time, police officials don't know the exact cause of their deaths. They're treating this as a group suicide although they haven't ruled out homicide. This is…"_

I turned off the TV right there as I didn't want to hear any more. I was now really shocked. What in God's name was going on here? I mean, I really didn't much if any pity for those guys since they were robbers and deserved to be in jail, but I think that I was shocked mainly because they were dead and it sounded like they didn't know why. I couldn't help but begin to think about it. Four criminals that probably died at the same time in such a high security place like the Metroville Correctional Facility was extremely suspicious. Maybe it really was suicide. I remember reading some article that said that some soldiers and spies carried suicide pills that they took if they were ever captured. They probably could've killed themselves some other way also. But what if it really was homicide? Could they have been murdered by other prisoners? I could see one of them getting killed by that, maybe two, but all four? I was sure that it wouldn't be impossible, but it seemed very unlikely. Then again, I didn't know anything about prisons, so maybe it wasn't as unlikely as I thought.

Speaking of thought, I had a really crazy one right then. What if they were somehow assassinated? As I said, it was really crazy, but it did have merit. I again remembered reading that people sometimes actually assassinated their own agents to prevent them from revealing sensitive information. If that was the case, then that only highlighted how big this situation really was.

Suddenly I was hit by a very terrifying thought. I also remember reading in that very same article that those people can sometimes assassinate _all _involved. I was directly involved in helping put those four men away in prison in the first place. I couldn't even guess if that story was true or not, but I was already breaking out in a cold sweat and felt my heart pounding against my ribcage. I thought that if these hypothetical people could kill those four men inside a max security prison, then they could very easily kill me, Leon, Chance, and maybe even my mother. I knew that there was nothing I could really do about it, either. I never felt so vulnerable in my life. For the first time ever, I was truly scared to be here at home by myself and was desperately wishing that both of my parents were here with me. I actually found myself clutching my new watch. I really didn't know what good that would do me if things went bad. All it did was open the door of the secret room downstairs in the basement. It wasn't like it was a super powerful weapon or something like that. At least, that's what I assumed. Maybe it could be used as a weapon also. But I was sure that Mom would've told me that. Maybe I was holding it because it was somehow reassuring. As of what I didn't know, but it was there.

I looked over at the phone. I could probably call someone, but who? The police, maybe? As obvious as that would be, I decided not to. What would I tell them? That I think that one or more people may have killed your four prisoners and may be after me next? It was certain that they would want proof, and I didn't have any. I wasn't sure if these people even existed to begin with. All this was just guessing and crazy thinking on my part. Then they would more than likely ask questions that I didn't have any answers to and would probably end up thinking that I was making a prank call. I decided that it wouldn't be worth the hassle and ruled against it. I could call my best friend Allison. How could she help me, though? Well, she did actually learn some kung fu moves from her champion uncle, but even that might not help much. Besides, I didn't want to put her in any mortal danger. I could probably call and have her tell me some jokes or something that would lighten my mood. By the way I was feeling, though, I doubted that even she could pull that off. But then she might want to come over and probably would even if I told her not to. So once again, I chose not to call. That left Leon and Chance. I was sure that Leon wasn't going to speak to me again after what happened yesterday, so that ruled him out right there. As for Chance, well, he definitely seemed like he was a smart person and could probably figure this out. He could be the best person to call, that is, if I get by his older brother first. It seemed like Leon didn't want me talking to Chance, either. It looked like I went through all my options and declined every one of them. I probably wasn't going to be calling anyone tonight. So that left the question, what was I going to do now?

Before I decided anything, I was going to do something about this crazy headache! It actually seemed to have gotten worse over the past hour. I got up and went back into the kitchen to get the aspirin that I originally was going to get. However, when I opened the cabinet, I saw that there wasn't any in there. I sighed in disappointment. Great, just absolutely perfect. Things are always there when you don't need them but the exact moment you do they vanish into thin air. I then remember seeing a bottle of aspirin in Dad's study when I was in there, at least I think I did. At this point I didn't really care about what I thought I saw, I just wanted some relief. So I went ahead and went back into the study.

The moment I stepped inside the room I suddenly had a very eerie feeling. It wasn't exactly the same feeling I had just before that woman snuck up on me from behind. I think that it was that feeling that you get when you step into a room that hasn't been occupied in a while, that sort of cool feeling to it that you can't really describe. I actually found myself looking around the room and then my eyes locked on a single picture on the wall. It was a picture of Dad and four of his colleagues in front of some glass building. There was a small caption on it that read, **_Taken at ATI Testing Facility, Metroville, July 19, 1993_**, a little more than two years ago. There was my dad, an Asian looking guy with glasses, another guy with dark graying hair, a tall woman with black hair, and another very short woman with blonde hair. I don't know why I was looking at it. It was just another picture on the wall. Besides, I've already searched this room for any info two days ago without much success and I wasn't in the mood to do any more. I shook myself out of it and immediately saw a bottle of aspirin sitting on the desk. I took it and left the room.

After taking a couple of pills, I went back out into the living room and sat down on the couch to watch some late night TV. I was still kind of nervous and wanted to stay up in case my theory of assassins was really true. I also wanted to stay up until Mom got back. I wanted to know if she had any good news about Dad. I also still wanted to tell her everything I knew. I wasn't going to let that go. I wondered what both of my parents were doing at that moment and hoped that they were both okay. I curled up more on the couch and watched one of those late night talk shows. As I was watching I felt myself slowly getting drowsy. I realized that those pills that I took probably helped you sleep as well as get rid of headaches. I tried to keep myself awake but it was hopeless and in a matter of minutes I dozed off completely.

I was suddenly awakened by the phone ringing. I was so sleepy that I considered letting it continue and have the answering machine pick it up. I then thought that it could be Mom or Dad calling, so I stood up, stretched, and staggered over to the phone to answer it.

"Hello?" I answered with my voice still heavy with sleep.

There was silence, then, "Jessie, is that you?"

I didn't immediately recognize the voice on the other end. "Who is this?"

"It's Edna darling."

"Edna?" The surprise from that woke me up a little. Edna Mode calling here? Why was she doing that? I looked at my watch and saw that it was after midnight. "Why are you calling here at this time?"

Again, there was a long silence. I did not like that one bit. "Um, is your father home by any chance, darling?" she finally asked.

"No, he's not," I told her. What was that about? Why would she be asking for Dad if Mom was… It then suddenly hit me. I was now very awake and felt an icy grip clutch at my throat. "It's Mom, isn't it?" I finally said. "Something happened to Mom."

The very long silence that followed only confirmed it. I was now in full panic mode. "Edna!" I said desperately. "Please tell me that she's okay."

"I'm not sure," she said. "I've picked up her distress signal and I'm unable to reach her."

"What are you saying?" I shouted into the phone. "Are you saying that she might be _dead?_"

"No, no, no!" she said quickly.

"_THEN WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU SAYING?" _I screamed. I knew that I now reached the point of being hysterical, but I was beyond caring. I had to know if my mother was alright.

"Calm down, darling," she said. "Look, she's not dead. The suits have sensors built into them that monitor life readings. Your mother's readings are very strange, but she's still alive."

"Where is she?" I asked.

"I don't know," she answered. "I'm trying to find that out right now. I have to go. I'll keep in touch if something comes up."

"Edna? _Edna!_" But it was too late as she already hung up.

I slammed the phone back down with intense fury. The tears were already starting to stream down my cheeks. God damn her! How could she leave me hanging like this? Why was she even trying to keep something like this behind my back? I started to pace across the living room. I just knew that something like this was going to happen to Mom, I just _knew _it. The long letter and watch seemed to make a lot more sense now. If something happened to Mom, then what about Dad? Was he okay, or could he be hurt or even dead? I was that close to losing it completely. I couldn't bear the thought of losing them both at the same time. I had to stop thinking until I calmed down enough to do it clearly. It wasn't going to be close to being easy, but I had to force myself to calm down.

When I finally did after about ten minutes, I looked down and saw that I was clutching my watch again. Why was I doing that? It wasn't like I was going to go down to the room, put on my new suit, and go out and hope to rescue them. I stopped dead in my tracks and blinked when it suddenly hit me hard. That was precisely the reason, and it was definitely not going to happen, no way. It was not going to happen now or ever again. Yes, I was very scared about my parents and hoped that they were both safe and unharmed, but I wasn't going to go out there and possibly get myself hurt or even killed. Besides, I swore that I would never use my powers again, especially after yesterday. That mall fight should never have happened to begin with and forced me to break my four-year-long-vow. It definitely wasn't going to happen again. Besides, I was sure that if they truly in trouble then some other super would help them.

However, the more I told myself that, the harder it was to keep saying. I heard a saying that once you crossed that line, you could never go back across it. I definitely crossed that imaginary line yesterday. Then there was something that happened to me yesterday that I didn't want to admit at first, but now have to. When I was fighting those robbers at the mall, I actually found myself _liking _it! I actually had an exhilarating rush during the whole thing, almost like the ones you get on your favorite rides at an amusement park. Then there was the guilt factor. The reason all that happened was because if Leon would've ended up hurt or dead, I would've felt guilty and blamed myself for it. My decision to go back did save his life at first but almost getting us both killed. And now I was starting to feel that same guilt again. I can now honestly say that I can't truly say no to my powers anymore, but at the same time I still didn't want to use them. I felt like I was practically being torn in two from that. I looked at my watch and rubbed my hand across it. I knew then that I had to make a very hard decision on what I was going to do.

It took about five minutes for me to come up with that very hard decision.


	13. Superhero 101

_Author's note: Hello again everybody. This was originally supposed to be a single although very long chapter, but I've decided fairly late on in writing this to split it into two separate chapters. I figured that it would make the overall story better that way. Besides, it was actually starting to come out like it was two chapters anyway. Anyway, you know the familiar drill. Read and review. Please and thank you!_

**Chapter 13**

I heard a saying once. Yeah, I've heard a lot of sayings in my life and mentioned a few of them, but I think that they're all appropriate for this situation. Anyway, this particular saying is that for everyone comes a one time chance where you would have to make what is essentially the biggest decision of your life. Each side of that decision has a consequence both good and bad and if you make the wrong choice it could be disastrous not only for you but for others. Also, no matter what the decision is, it would affect you for the rest of your life. Man, I don't think that I to make a bigger decision in my life than this. And I thought that my decision to go back and help Leon at the mall was my biggest. And before that? Well, I really don't know what it was, and frankly, it didn't matter anymore. What I was going to decide was going to exceed anything else by miles. Believe me, it took every last second of those five minutes to come up with my choice. I thought of every possible thing that I could. Was Mom really in danger? Was Dad in danger also? Was _I _in danger, for that matter? Was there anything I could do about this realistically? If I stayed here, would I really be safe? However, if I did stay here, then what about my parents? Would they end up being okay, or would they be hurt or even killed because I didn't do anything? But if I threw all caution to the wind and actually went out to look for them, then what? Could I save them or get both them and myself killed in the process? And probably the biggest question of them all, could this actually be the start of Project Etybonan? That alone was a very serious thought. How would I actually know if it was starting or not? I still didn't have a clear picture of this whole thing. Besides, the timing seemed to be a little weird. According to my watch, it was exactly 12:23 a.m., and was now Sunday. That could make some sense, though. A lot of people in Metroville were probably now asleep and would be unable to do anything if something did happen. There was also another saying, evil knows no boundaries or timetables. And the very last thing in judging my decision was, of course, the already mentioned guilt factor that I can't just seem to get rid of.

And it was mainly due to that guilt factor that I was now standing in front of the secret door in the basement. Yes, believe it or not, I had actually decided to go out and try to help out my parents. And it took a lot of thinking and it wasn't by much to come up to that.

I honestly couldn't believe I had decided to do something as insane and dangerous as this, but I also felt like I couldn't just sit around at home while both of my parents were possibly in danger. God, everything for me had changed so much within the last three, now almost four days. This was all moving so incredibly fast. Until this past Thursday, I never would've dreamed I would actually use my powers again, let alone being let in on a plot to destroy Metroville and now the possible rescue of my parents. I guess that this was a clear example of how unpredictable life could really be. Was I really ready for this, though? I didn't have any experience in being a super, save the tiny if any I got fighting those men. I also wasn't sure of I could really do. I heard that some supers don't know the full extent of their powers when they first start out and end up being far more powerful than they realize. I wasn't sure if that applied to me, but I had to consider that possibility. So far, all I could do was fly and shoot fireballs, and that's it. If I did have another hidden ability, what was it? One more huge question, if I did go, then what possible danger would I face? People with guns? Some sort of death machines? Maybe even those nanobots and the person behind them? I had to figure out where my parents were first before I could know what danger I could be in.

I shook my head to clear it. If I was going to end up doing this insane stunt, I had to go now before I changed my mind, and I was already on the verge of doing that just now. I looked down at my watch, took a deep breath, and used it just as my mother instructed in the letter. I was actually a little surprised when the door opened. I hesitated a little bit before going inside.

It was still a strange feeling being inside this room, as I had only been here two times in as few hours. I saw that Mom had hung my new suit right next to where hers would be. However, what immediately got my attention was that a button on the computer terminal was flashing blue and beeping loudly. I had no idea what that button did, and I wasn't ready to find out, either. How did I know that it wasn't some kind of booby trap? A picture of Edna's extremely lethal trap came to mind. On the other hand, what if it was some alert about my Mom. Could I really afford _not _to push it? I wrestled around with those thoughts for a minute before deciding the heck with it and pressed the button quickly, ready for anything.

"_Hold still for retinal identification," _a feminine computer voice said from the terminal.

Almost immediately, a blue light shined from a port just below the big screen and right into my eyes. I knew that I shouldn't have pressed that button! My curiosity always got the better of me. I was certain that I wouldn't be positively identified and would have to face some trap. A second later there was a beep and the light stopped.

"_Identification confirmed as Wells, Jessica M. Begin message."_

'_What?' _I thought in disbelief. Identification confirmed? Begin message? What did that mean? It only took a moment for me to find out as the screen suddenly turned on. It was Mom in her current Electricia suit, minus the helmet. It looked like that she was in this room when this was made. I noticed that her hair was slightly different from her current style, which meant that this message had to be made between three years ago and last year. I wondered what this was going to be about.

"_Hello, Jessica,"_ she said. _"If you're seeing this message, then you know who I really am. I programmed it to activate the first time you touch the computer terminal. Your DNA and retinal scans were encoded into the memory banks so that it would recognize you right away. As of this time, I'm still not sure about you, but I suspect that you are a super as well. The burn marks on the tree and in the lawn a couple of years ago were a big tip off, and I'm guessing that your powers involve fire. I'm sure that you told me what they are if you're seeing this. I know that you'll probably have a lot of questions, and I'll do my best to answer them. I'm not good at these types of things, so just bear with me here."_ She chuckled and then continued on.

"_Anyway, since I've probably already told you my life story, I'll skip all that and tell you things about being a super. This is to help you if you really want to pursue being a full fledged superhero. I guess that you could call this Superhero 101. I might've already said some of these things to you, but it's important that you remember every single one of them. First, supers must _always _use their powers for the good of the people. And before you ask, yes, there have been a few supers that went bad. Of course, that leaves a black mark across the entire super community and we have to end up fixing the mess. Not to mention that it makes people stop trusting all of us in general. Second, our powers are a gift, not a curse like some make them out to be. It's understandable if you're afraid of them at first. I know I was with mine. In time you learn to accept that they will always be a part of you for the rest of your life and if used wisely can do great things."_

"_However, that's not to say that they aren't dangerous. On the contrary, they can be very lethal. That's the third thing that you should be aware of at all times. My own electrical powers are powerful enough to instantly incinerate a person to ashes. It's never come to that specifically, but I have to say that I had to kill three people and nearly had to kill several others. That's the last thing that any super wants to do. We almost always give people chances to surrender peacefully and if they don't, then we try to take them down as painlessly as possible. Only under the most extreme of cases we might then have to kill them, and that's _**only **_in self defense. I guarantee you that every super that ever lived had to face that choice at least once in their careers. It won't be any different in the future. In fact, it might be worse since supervillains and even regular criminals are becoming more brazen and heavily armed these days. If that time comes, then you won't have any time to hesitate. It's kill or be killed. That might sound very harsh and black and white, but that's the reality of fighting crime. I'm sure that you're wondering how we deal with the fact that we've killed another human being. The answer is that we have to. We can't gloss over it and pretend that it never happened. As you could probably guess already, things like that are very difficult to get over, but you also have to learn to live with it and move on. That's not to say that we don't wish that things ended up differently. I think about that all the time and wonder if there was something that I could've done differently to spare that person's life. But in the end I just had to accept that whatever could be done had already been done and that was the final outcome. So believe me when I say that if you become a full fledged superhero, that time will come when you have to make that ultimate choice." _

She sighed and paused for a moment. Wow. I mean, just, wow. I know that she had already told me about killing those three people the other night, but it wasn't as in such detail as this. Again, my admiration of my mother increased significantly. For her to have killed three people even if it was by self defense and still be sane after all that was just unbelievable. I couldn't even begin to imagine myself having to come to that terrifying decision to kill another person, even if it was in self defense. I didn't know how if I could handle it or be able to live with myself. I had to ask Mom how she was able to go on like that. I had more questions in my head, but they had to wait because she spoke again in the recording.

"_Okay, let's move on to number four on the list. This is perhaps the most important thing other than our powers. It is our secret identity. It may not seem like it, but our normal identities are far more important than our super identities. It's how we exist out in the normal world. We do need to have seemingly normal lives, after all. I mean, you could theoretically be a full superhero 24/7 but it would be very impractical. What would be the real point? You would still need to shop for food and supplies and do other errands in the city. Anyway, as a super you must protect your normal identity at all times. Also, you must keep your two identities separate from each other. In the regular world I'm Veronica Wells, normal married housewife and mother of one, but in the super world I'm Electricia, the Voltage Vixen, a champion super of Metroville, and, um, I have a huge fan club full of rabid worshippers unfortunately. Anyway, the point of this is that when I put on my super suit, I have to cease being Veronica Wells and totally become Electricia. It's the opposite when I take off the suit. That's the same with any super. You can't have a trace of your normal identity when you're a super and vice-versa. Even the tiniest slip-ups could give huge hints to who you really are. Just like everything else before, it won't be easy the first few times, but you learn as you go along."_

"_The fifth thing could probably go along the same lines as the third. It goes without saying that being a superhero is extremely dangerous. Everyone knows that, of course, but this is definitely worth mentioning. Every time we put on our suit, we have to expect the possibility of getting hurt or even killed. It's not always like that, though. Some of those things are really as simple as rescuing a cat from a tree or, dare I say, helping an old lady cross the street or back up onto her feet. They might even include things like saving a bus, train, plane, city, and maybe even the whole planet itself. However, at least eighty percent of the time, it would definitely involve criminals and even the occasional supervillian, and they would almost always try to kill you with regular, unconventional, and even bizarre weapons. Over the entire length of my own career, I have been attacked with, let's see if I can count them all, guns, knives, swords, arrows, axes, grenades, throwing stars, bombs, mines, missiles, flares, pitchforks, chainsaws, chains, screwdrivers, wrenches, vehicles, all types of food items, lasers, the nuclear accelerator cannon of the Atomizer, and, yes, even a sink. I'm not joking about that, either. Quite the extensive list, isn't it? You will get hurt at least once in your career. I have been wounded many times myself and while none of those were life threatening, it makes you realize all the more just how dangerous being a super really is. Lots of supers have lost their lives doing this. Besides my parents, I also lost an uncle before them. The death of a super, especially a well-loved one, deeply affects both other supers and regular people. Even though we might not know them personally, we consider the entire super community as one huge family and losing one is like losing a very close relative. It hurts deeply when we hear that kind of terrible news. We mourn their loss and usually have their name and suit retired. Then we have to continue on like they would've wanted us to. That's a lot harder on some than most, especially to those that may have known them personally or may have been even married to them. Some might even retire altogether. In the case of the massacre of supers by Syndrome, it made many of the surviving supers go even deeper underground to avoid the same fate and didn't want to come back out of hiding when the ban was lifted. It took in some cases ten years for a few of those supers to regain their confidence. Even the ones that were around during the Golden Age weren't really the same. In fact, the first two years after the lifting of the ban were probably one of the most dangerous times in the history of supers. There were a lot of new supers that had no experience dealing with a regular criminal, let alone a supervillian, and even some of the veterans were rusty, having been prohibited from using their powers for fifteen years. A few were even killed. I almost died myself during that time because I was overconfident and sometimes just plain stupid. Believe me, in this business, you learn lessons the hard way or sometimes not at all because you're already dead. This is mainly the deciding factor if you want to really become a hero."_

"_Let's move on now. For number six, let's talk about the people that you're out trying to protect on an almost weekly basis. Yes, the normal population. No matter how big or small the situation is, the citizens _**must always** _come first. In some cases, a super is expendable. Yes, I know how terrible that sounds, but that's pretty much the reason why supers exist to begin with, to protect the normal public by any means possible, even if it means death. However, that does not mean that you should unnecessarily put yourself at risk. You must first access the situation and then determine the best course of action that would both minimize the danger to both the public and to yourself. Sometimes, the best course of action is not to do anything immediately, especially in a hostage situation. There will be times, though, that no matter your best efforts, a person might end up getting hurt or killed. Sad as that is, you have to realize that we can't save everyone that gets in trouble. We may be supers, but sometimes things happen that are even beyond our control. You just have to accept that as another part of being a superhero. In brighter things, or depending on how you look at it, you will almost immediately gain fans when you first start out. Most of the regular public loves supers, and they love a brand new one even more. They'll just as quickly start sending you some fan mail. Some of them might be a little disturbing though. I'm not going to go into detail about some of the rather…interesting ones I've received over the years. Anyway, the computer savvy fans might even make a website about you since it seems like everyone these days is getting into this new Internet thing. And, of course, there are the fan clubs. That could be both a good and bad things. My own fan club was great when it first started out, but now it is almost completely filled with crazed, obsessed fans who think that it would be great if I made an appearance every single week. To be really blunt, it's starting to get really annoying and tiresome always listening to their begging and pleading on an almost daily basis. I almost wish that I had the power to dissolve my own fan club. Well, you could if you really wanted to, but it wouldn't be quite legal. I still make an appearance every now and then to show them that I still care, although I admit that it's not as much as it used to be. All that stays between the two of us. You don't want anything like that getting out. It would completely devastate them if they knew that I was thinking about my own fan club like that. On top of fan clubs and all that, you might start getting comic, TV, and movie deals as well as product endorsements. Again, that might be a good and bad thing. I probably told you about my Super Power Hour debacle. However, a really good deal could send your career and popularity smashing through the roof, or a really bad one could flush it down the toilet. That's why you have to be careful with those deals and always remember to read the fine print before you sign anything."_

"_Now, for every great thing, there's always going to be a bad thing. There are a lot of people out there that hate us just because we're supers. In the words of one person that I had the misfortune of crossing paths with, they think that we're freaks of nature that should be eradicated from the face of the earth. In fact, just by going out to fight crime and save their lives, they think that we're just showing off and rubbing it in their faces that by having these special powers we're superior to them. A lot of them have even been trying for years to get a new ban imposed on us. You might be able to change a few minds if you save them from impending disaster, even though they might do so reluctantly. The majority though will still hate you no matter what good you do. They'll never think that we supers are the ones out there risking our butts every day and night so they would feel safer living here in the city. They'll always think of us as some mutants or monsters that should be destroyed like some diseased animal. It makes me angry and sick that they think of us, fellow human beings, like that. But what can you really do about it? Anything we try do to change their minds about us could make them hate us a lot more than before. The great news about this is that they seemed to be the minority. A lot more people love us than hate us, and as long as we continue to do great things, they'll continue to do so."_

"_The seventh thing is minor compared to the others, but it's still fairly important. It's not a great idea to be a glory hound. Besides a super going bad, there's nothing worse than a showboating one. Besides making themselves look stupid, the regular people as well as other supers look down on them because it looks like they're in it for themselves rather than for the good of the people. That could bring negative publicity on the rest of the super community and fuel even more anti-super hatred. Things like that are serious enough to get a strict reprimand from the NSA, so don't do it. Also, supers like to work as a team, not only with other supers but with the police department. It's so that they don't feel completely left out if we have to take down a criminal or even a supervillian. Of course, it's not like that all the time and we could usually handle criminals single-handedly, but with the far tougher supervillians, a few of us would work together and use the total strength of our powers to bring them down."_

"_That's pretty much the basics of being a full fledged superhero. There is more, but those are mostly things that I can't tell you that you'll have to learn on your own. Now, I know what you're thinking. Why do we do this? What's the real point of going out and risking our lives, fighting all kinds of crime, saving people, and capturing a supervillian when the next one would just come along and attempt to do the same thing? It's because we have no real choice. We are sometimes the only people that can stop them. Some of the supervillains are so powerful that the police and even the military can't stop them, but yet we can. It's also a very rewarding career, knowing that you saved a lot of lives."_

"_Now, as for what this means between the two of us, I will fully support you on whatever decision you make. I'm sure that you would've thought about it a lot before then. However, I have to advise that you don't rush headfirst into becoming a superhero and actually wait a few years before you do. I mean, just because I was fifteen when I first started doesn't mean that you should. In fact, let me tell you a story about that."_

"_As I said, I was fifteen at the time. It had only been about nine months after my parents were killed, and since they didn't really teach me anything, I had no experience in being a full hero. Of course, it looked so easy in the comics and the archive footage that I figured that I could handle any person out there no problem. Well, remember that I said that in the super business, you learn lessons the hard way, and at that age I was still very overconfident, reckless, impulsive, and emotional. That first time when I stopped the robbery inside the jewelry store was mainly due to luck, as was the second time when I stopped an armored car heist from the First MetroBank Tower downtown. The third time, tough, was definitely not the charm. I had heard that there was some illegal weapons trading going on in an abandoned warehouse on the waterfront. I was already pretty close to the area, so I figured that I'd handle it on my own. So I sneak into the warehouse and see all these men looking over the weapons. I use that to my advantage and stun them all before they could react. Proud of what I've done, I turn around…and there was this tall mountain of a man with an equally huge gun pointed right into my face. This wasn't just any gun, either. It was one of those guns that fired an armor piercing, anti-tank round. Something like that would've taken my head as well as a good portion of my upper torso completely off. He pulled the trigger, and nothing happened. The gun miraculously jammed up on him, and I quickly knocked him out before he could fix it. I was very shaken up by that for a long time. I was that close to dying that day. I actually had recurring nightmares for several years that the gun really fired and blew my head off. It also made me realize just how serious being a super really was. My recklessness would've gotten me killed that day if it wasn't for that miracle and could very likely still kill me later on. I straightened up real fast and learned how to be a super without being overconfident and stupid. I must admit, though, that I still have some of that recklessness and impulsiveness left inside of me. I have learned to overcome that and it doesn't affect my judgment any more or less."_

"_So you see, that's pretty much the reason I wouldn't like you out doing this at such a young age. You need time to learn how to take on criminals the right way. One more thing that I need to add. Since this is so dangerous, you have to expect the fact that one day that I might not come back. I'm very sorry to put that idea into your head, but you have to expect the worst. Remember, I didn't even know about my own parents until some NSA agent showed up a week later. So even though I pray that day never comes, you need to be prepared if it does."_

"_Well, I guess that concludes Superhero 101. I told you that I really wasn't very good at these types of things, but I hope that I explained everything clear enough for you to understand. It tell you that it's an awesome responsibility being a super. It's highly dangerous as well, but it can also be highly rewarding. It could even become tiresome after a while. But even with me telling you all this, I'm leaving the decision totally to you and I'll totally support the decision you make. You don't have to rush so take all the time you need. Just remember everything that I've told you. This recording will be kept in an encrypted chip in case you want to see it again. I have to go now. Goodbye, Jessica."_

The screen then shut off, but I still stood there staring at it while Mom's word's continued to scroll through my head. Everything she told me before wasn't as detailed as this recording. I was also shocked that she came so close to dying that one day. If that gun hadn't jammed at that critical moment, she wouldn't be here today, and neither would I, for that matter. It was totally frightening to know that my own fate as well as Mom's could've been decided before I was born. She also said that she was overconfident and reckless at that time, tendencies that I seem to have. Would that mean that if I went out and searched for my parents, could I end up being so reckless that I end up getting killed myself? The main thing , though, was that everything that she told me was to ensure my safety as well as not repeating her mistake. I was now totally confused about what I wanted to do. Just about twenty minutes ago, I was ready to go and look for my parents, but now I just didn't know. There were just so many questions raised, and I needed time to sort through them before I decided my next course.

However, one question completely stood out from the others. Would I honestly still be able to go through with my original decision?


	14. To The Rescue Hopefully

_Author's note: Well, this is a shocker! I thought that this would be a short chapter, especially since I split it from the previous chapter. However, this had actually become one of my longest chapters yet, so long that I had to split it again for the next chapter. Anyway, we are now to the point that most of you probably want to see. Action! I can pretty much guarantee that it will be mostly action from here on out. However, this story's still got a little ways to go before it's finished, so don't worry about it ending soon. Okay, you know the drill, so I won't say anything this time. _

**Chapter 14**

So here I was thinking about the pros and cons of my earlier decision and everything else in between all over again. Unlike the last time, though, I now had Mom's message to help influence my judgment. That recording really added a broad new perspective on what I wanted to do. It gave me new things to think about that I never would've even considered before. I then thought that maybe I rushed way too fast into my earlier decision. I mean, maybe it was the right call to see if I could help my parents, or maybe it wasn't, but I thought that maybe something this big could take a little longer than just five minutes to totally decide on. And maybe I was doing way too much thinking on this already. Once again, I needed to calm down and just think clearly. Okay, so let's say that I did end up going on this mission. What could possibly happen? I saw these possible outcomes. One, I save both my parents and the city. Two, I go only to find out that one or both of them are already dead. Three, I end up dying myself. Four, we all end up dying. Five, I go and something happens that I can't even remotely imagine at this point. The only next big question was, where exactly were they? I was so busy thinking about my decision and the possible consequences to both my parents and myself that I didn't even bother to think about where they were in the first place. That was kind of stupid. I mean, how was I supposed to do this without knowing exactly where to go, that is, if I still wanted to go. God, there was that question again. Man, I swear, I was going to drive myself completely insane if I kept this up.

Okay, so where could they possibly be? Well, the best, and only, clue at the moment was the ATI complex, and I wasn't sure if I could even call that a clue. It was more of a starting point if anything. I didn't know if I could learn anything new, though. Mom already called there earlier, and they told her that Dad was still there working. It was very obvious now that she didn't believe them. I had no experience in these types of things, but that sounded very suspicious to me from the very beginning. I didn't know if any part of it was true or not, but there was just enough doubt there for me, and apparently my mom, to continue to pursue it. Besides, it was a lot easier to lie to someone over the phone than to their face. But why lie at all? Why tell my mother or someone else something like that? Unless what I was told what could possibly happen was happening at this very moment. I began to wonder just how many people were involved. From what I remember hearing, ATI employed something like 15,000 people, with more than half of those here in Metroville. _All _of them couldn't be in on this, could they? Of course not. The mysterious woman said as much. Although since she was still, well, mysterious, I wasn't sure if her word really meant all that much, but it was all that I had to go by. Hmm, maybe ATI was a good starting point after all.

So, what now? I looked at the computer terminal. I already thought of seeing if I could use it to locate Mom. I was almost certain that it could do that. If Edna could detect the life signs of my mother on whatever she was using at her place, then this computer should also. I also decided that I wasn't going to try to use it, and the reason was that I still didn't know anything about it. My uncle had a saying for something like this. Yeah, I know, another saying. Anyway, he said something along the lines of, 'When in doubt, don't try out'. I got lucky the first time I touched it, but the second time might not be the case. I was still envisioning very lethal booby traps hidden somewhere in the walls or something. So if I wasn't able to, actually, make that _unwilling_ to use the computer, then the only way to know where Mom was at was to contact Edna. Since I didn't know her number and I already knew that it was private, then that meant that I had to go over to her mansion. That was definitely a problem since her mansion was way out in the countryside, a good twenty miles or so from here. I sure as heck wasn't going to ride my bike over that distance, and the buses weren't running at this time. Even if they were, it would still only cut that trip down by maybe half. I sighed deeply. That left only one option.

I looked at my black and orange super suit that was hanging there on the wall. The same suit that I was happy to get at first but then seemed to regret having it made. The same suit that symbolized the very thing that I wanted to avoid becoming. The same suit that I was actually thinking about putting on. I reached out with my right hand and ran it across the sleeve of the suit. This was actually the first time that I touched it. It felt kind of…weird. Not weird as in bad weird, but, well, maybe it was a nice kind of weird. It felt really smooth, a lot smoother than just about all of my regular clothing. It didn't really feel like silk or anything like that, it just had its own type of smoothness to it. I wondered what it would be like to wear it, how it would feel on my skin. If it was as nice as it felt, then I'm sure that I wouldn't be disappointed.

'_Then why don't you try it on,' _my inner voice said. _'I mean, weren't you the one who decided to rescue your parents a few minutes ago? And how were you expecting to do that, hmm? Walk up to the front door, put on your sweetest face, and kindly ask for their release, that is, if they are in trouble at all? Gimme a break! Even so, you have to admit that you were always curious to try on that suit. Don't even try to lie about it. So go ahead and just try it on. There's no harm in doing just that. Come on, you know you want to.'_

I continued to run my hand across the suit. I definitely couldn't deny that I wanted to put it on, if only because I really was curious about it. Unfortunately, it really wasn't about curiosity anymore. I was thinking about using it to help my parents. Was that really so bad, though? Part of me still thought so, and that was probably the reason I was still kind of reluctant. Still, it really wouldn't hurt to try it on, and it did feel really nice in my hand…

"What the hell," I said with a sigh.

I took down the suit, boots, gloves, and belt but left the mask behind. I really don't know why I did that. I immediately noticed how light the whole thing was. It seemed to be almost feather light. I mean, I wasn't expecting it to weigh as much as a suit of armor or anything, but I figured that a suit that was, in Edna's own words, 'bulletproof, fireproof, waterproof, and stainproof,' would've had a little more weight to it than this. The clothes I was wearing at that moment probably weighed more in total.

I took the suit and walked out of the room. I left the door open, just in case. I went up to my room, shut the door behind me, and locked it. I made sure that my blinds were fully closed. I didn't want to risk the chance of anyone seeing what I was about to do. With the third sigh of the night, I then stripped out of all my clothing. I guess that was the downside of not owning any regular clothing that wouldn't burst into flames. I made a mental note that the next time I did this, if that next time ever came, I would get something that I could wear under my suit that was fireproof itself. Not that anyone would see anything or something like that, but I guess that it was just the idea of me, well, going commando that was just strange, not to mention embarrassing. Anyway, I grabbed the suit and slowly put it on. When I was done with that, I put on the gloves, boots, and belt just as slowly. I was purposely turned away from my mirror so that I wouldn't see how I looked until I was done. I knew that the look wouldn't be complete without the mask, but it would be close enough. I waited for a few more seconds, took a deep breath, and then turned around to see my new self in the mirror.

So what was my first reaction to seeing myself in my new super suit? I could honestly say that I was surprised, and that wasn't a bad thing. I was surprised because I looked so great in it. I could almost go as far as saying that it was the best that I looked in anything. Edna obviously knew what she was doing when she designed my suit. I never doubted her for a second and the suit looked great the moment she made it, but it was better to wait until I actually put it on before I made my final judgment. I even modeled around in it for a moment, turning around to see it from all angles. I wondered what my parents would think if they saw me in this. Besides looking nice, it also felt nice as well. It was far more comfortable than I ever would've expected. It was also surprisingly less restrictive than I would've thought, although that would make sense since they were made to fight crime. Edna was also right and the suit really did breathe excellently. I also like the way it brought out the redness of my hair. In fact, I wondered if there was something that I could do with my hair to add to my super look. Yes, believe it or not, the way that some supers wear their hair sometimes is part of their style. It helps with their image as well as keep from being identified who they really are. After a moment I decided to keep it loose for now. I kind of liked it better that way. Besides, I knew that all of my hair bands weren't fireproof, either.

I had one minor complaint about the suit, though. It was a little more, well, skintight than the looser clothing that I was used to wearing. I felt that it was revealing my curves just a little too much. I was slightly self conscious about my body. Add that to the fact that I wasn't wearing anything under my suit and it just made the skintight issue even worse. However, that was a very minor thing and was something that I was just going to have to get used to.

As I standing there and looking at myself in my new suit, the big question came back again. Would I actually use this suit tonight instead of model around in it for a few minutes? I already seem to have prepared myself to go a lot more than if I was just putting it on for a short time. I also was very curious to see what this suit could really do. Last but not least, the huge guilt factor that had been so influential in my earlier decisions was still burning so bright. The message from Mom and seeing myself in the suit also added to my decision. But I think that I already knew what I was going to do the moment I took the suit down from its spot.

I met my own eyes in the mirror and said, "Why not."

'_Well, Jess, you've now crossed the line,' _that inner voice of mine from earlier said. _'How does it feel to officially become a superhero now? Not really what you expected, huh? Wonder what Mom and Dad will think.'_

I definitely wasn't going to do this alone, though. That was obvious from the very beginning. I might've been crazy for deciding to do this, but I wasn't that stupid. It was probably stupid to drag someone else into this anyway, but that was besides the point. Of course, I already knew who that someone was, or in this case, _two someones._ The two most obvious choices, of course. Leon and Chance Harding. That could be a problem, though, and it wasn't because of the earlier conflict, either. Chance gave me their home phone number, but I don't think that they were expecting me to call them at almost one in the morning. Besides, what if their parents answer the phone first? What would I say to them? They didn't even know me. It probably would've been a lot easier if I knew where their house was. That way I could just tap on their window or something. But since I didn't have that option, the only other choice was to call them. I went over to my phone and reached for the slip of paper that had the number on it. I knew that there was a reason why I didn't rip it up. I also knew that I was wasting a lot of time, so I picked up the phone, dialed the number, and prayed that their parents wouldn't answer it. After about five rings, someone picked up at the other end, but it took a while for them to answer.

"'Lo?" A tired voice answered. I was relieved to hear that it was Leon. Relieved but nervous.

"Leon?" I asked with some of that nervousness in my voice.

"Yeah. Who's this?"

"It's me, Jess."

"Jess?" He sounded surprised to hear my voice. "Why are you calling at one in the morning? How'd you even get this number to begin with?"

"Chance gave it to me yesterday," I told him. "It was in case I needed to contact you."

"Oh, well, um, what's up?"

It was hard to tell if he was still upset with me, but that didn't really matter. "I think that both of my parents are in trouble."

"What?" That seemed to have gotten his attention as he sounded fully awake now. "What's happened? What's going on?"

"My dad hasn't been home for several days now. Mom finally got worried and she left to see if he was alright. Then about a half hour ago Edna called here asking for Dad but then told me that she picked up some strange readings from Mom. I think that she may have been captured."

"Whoa." After a quick silence he said, "Okay, listen. I don't think that it's a good idea to be talking about this over the phone. Tell you what, why don't we meet at the park. Is that fine with you?"

"That's perfect," I agreed.

"Chance and I will be there in ten minutes. See you there." He then hung up.

I hung up my own phone. Well, that was pretty fast. It went a lot easier than I expected as well. I suppose that there was no turning back now. Of course, I had to get my mask before I left. I couldn't exactly leave without that if I wanted to keep my identity secret. I left my room and went back down to the secret room. I guess that there was a reason why I kept the door open. I wasn't wearing the watch to open it. I guess that I really did know some things in advance than I thought.

I picked up my mask from its place and looked at it. It felt kind of rubbery. I wondered if it just as bulletproof and fireproof as the rest of my suit. It had to be. I then remembered something that was bugging me from since I first heard and read about superheroes. How could these masks actually keep our identity secret? They just seemed to cover the eyes and maybe a good portion of the face. One would think that it would be easy to see who supers really are through that. But apparently people are totally oblivious to that. Maybe it was just the way that it covered the face that hid the identity. Of course, if they wore a helmet like my mom does, then their identity would sure be kept secret. They also looked really cool. Hmm, maybe one day I could get a helmet for myself.

I finally closed my eyes and placed the mask on my face. It felt really weird. It didn't feel quite as comfortable as the rest of my suit, but I was certain that I would get used to it. I kind of liked the way it formed perfectly with my facial features. I wished that I could see what I looked like now that I had the mask on. There was no mirror in this room, and the reflections of myself off some of the glass surfaces there weren't really that great. Oh, well.

Anyway, I guess that now was the time that I had to do what Mom said in the message. With my suit and mask on, I now had to forget that I was Jessica Wells and now had to refer to myself as my self chosen super name, Phoenicia. Man, that was not going to be easy. It was going to take a while to call myself that. Maybe Mom was right when she said that these things took time. In fact, I think that part of the reason that I was doing this was that Mom and I were so alike in our personalities. I was impulsive, reckless, and emotional, just like she was when she was my age. Unlike her, though, I was far from overconfident. I was a very unconfident person, and even more so now. That needed to change if I was going to do this.

I knew that it was time to go, but before I left the room, I took one last look at the two ruined suits of my grandparents. It was still saddening to look at, but I also knew that there was a chance that both me and Mom could end up just like that, but surprisingly I wasn't really worried about that outcome. Maybe I was starting to show a little confidence in myself after all. Just to the left of the suits was a faded picture. I took it off the wall and looked at it closely. It was an old picture of my grandparents and my mother when she was just a little girl. It had to have been taken sometime in the sixties. There weren't very many pictures of my grandparents. They were nice looking people. My granddad was a tall handsome man with a strong build, square face and neatly cut brown hair. My grandma was a very beautiful woman with a rounded face and red hair cut in one of those sixties hairstyles. There were times that I would wonder how different my life would be if they were still alive today. I knew that they were probably looking down on me right now, and in a way that made me feel a lot better. I placed the picture back on the wall. I then looked back at the two suits, kissed the palm of my right hand, and placed it on the glass surface.

"Wish me luck," I said out loud.

I then left the room and shut the door behind me. At first I was just going to walk to the park. It was past one in the morning and I was certain that I could get there without any attention since everyone in the neighborhood should be asleep. However, I decided that it would be a better idea if I tested out my powers before I went anywhere. So I made sure that all the lights were off in the house before I stepped outside into the backyard. I made sure that there were no lights on in either one of our neighbors' houses before I went further out into the yard. I was already nervous enough as it was from being out here in my suit. I definitely didn't want or need any prying eyes around.

The first thing that I figured that I could do was test out my fire powers. Edna did say that the gloves were supposed to enhance them. I started simple by holding out both hands and letting them glow. When I did that both gloves glowed with them. That was very interesting. I made them glow even brighter until they were almost white hot and surrounded by fire and making that really strange hissing sound. I was mesmerized by it as it was very beautiful to look at. I was also amazed that the gloves were holding up to that type of temperature. I wasn't sure just how hot it was, but I was almost certain they were hot enough to melt some metals. I stopped because they were also illuminating almost the entire yard. Then, as an experiment, I brought up one my hands and touched my cheek. The gloves were cool to the touch. Wow, that was pretty awesome. Gloves that could dissipate the heat almost immediately. That could be very useful.

Next I wanted to try the fireballs. I already knew that they seemed to be powerful enough on their own, but I needed to see if the gloves made any difference. The metal bucket from four years ago was still in the yard, so I picked it up and set it down in the middle of the yard. Stepping away from it, I held out my right hand and launched a fireball at it. I don't know what I expected before that, but what I got far exceeded it. The bucket literally _exploded _in a shower of flames, sparks, and molten metal! I gasped and staggered back a few steps. That was very new. It was also very loud, and I kept glancing back and forth between the two houses to see if anyone inside them heard it. When no lights came on inside either house, I relaxed slightly but not much. I then walked to the now blackened and smoking patch of grass. Oh man, Dad was probably going to kill me. Anyway, there was nothing left of the bucket. Nothing but twisted, blackened, and melted pieces of metal scattered all over the yard. I stared at the patch in amazement and then at my own right hand with the same expression. These gloves added quite the punch to something that was already dangerous. I had to be careful when I used them. Good thing that I didn't have them when I was fighting that guy in the mall.

The last thing to test out was flight. This one was going to be the most interesting, and probably the most dangerous. It was confirmed that I could actually fly instead of just hover and float around. The only main problem was that the very short flight that happened at the mall was very much accidental and out of instinct. In other words, I didn't know how I'd done it. I just knew that I somehow did, and now I had to try to do it on my own. I was certain that it would come just as naturally as everything else. At least, that's what I hoped. I began to have some questions, though. So let's say that I did get fully airborne, then what? How do I steer, speed up or slow down, all that stuff? Then I thought that I had to get airborne first before I could even think about the other stuff. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. I guess it was now that time. I looked up at the clear night sky. Such a pretty night for flying, hopefully.

"Well, up, up, and away," I said to myself.

I said that cheesy and overused line that flying supers say from those comics and TV shows as an attempt to calm down my nerves. I even chuckled at that, but it was very dry, humorless, and forced. Not to mention that it did nothing to calm my nerves.

'_This is not a good idea.' _That ever more annoying inner voice of mine just had to add its part to this.

It was too late to back out now. I took another deep breath, held my arms out by my sides, and started to form my aura. The ghostly flames appeared almost immediately. A moment later, my hair started to float around my head and then I felt myself lift off the ground. Well, so far so good, but I was kind of hoping for something more than this. I mean, I already knew how to hover, and…

Suddenly, the aura flashed white and made that strange roaring sound, and then I shot up into the sky at blazing speed! I let out a scream of shock and fright as my backyard suddenly rocketed away from under my feet. For a moment I had a very strange thought that if neighbors didn't hear the fireball earlier, then they had to have heard my take off. I immediately pushed that aside as I had a far more serious problem to think about. Yes, I was flying, but I had no control at all and was now in serious danger of flying all the way out into space unless I did something.

'_Get control! Get control! Get control!' _the voice was screaming at me over and over.

Jeez, what the hell did it think I was trying to do? Okay, I had to just calm down and think. Yeah, that was easier said than done, especially now. All I had to do was change direction or slow down or stop completely. Simple, right? Not in the slightest. At that moment, the aura vanished completely. I didn't mean to do that, but it seemed to be helping. It was only for a moment, though. The momentum was still carrying me upward, but I was slowing down really fast until I came to a stop in mid-air. Then a split second later I started falling back toward the ground. I fought back the urge to scream again as I fell faster and faster. I had to get that aura back now or I was going to smash into the ground. I had to be at least a few thousand feet up in the air but I maybe had thirty seconds to regain control. Luck was with me though as I quickly managed to get the aura back and my fall was slowing down until I stopped and was now just hovering.

I breathed out a sigh of relief. That didn't go quite as expected. At least I was still alive, for now. Now that I was hovering and in no more danger, I could look at the view from this height. I was not really enjoying it, either. In fact, I swallowed hard. There was something that I didn't mention before. I had a slight fear of heights, and it was starting to get to me. Yeah, I know, a flying super that had a fear of heights sounded funny. The city looked so beautiful and peaceful from up here, I admit. It seemed to be an endless sea of lights spreading out in all directions below me. It was also amazingly quiet with maybe the occasional car horn in the distance. It was almost magical, and it seemed to have a calming effect. I found myself thinking about how I probably looked from the ground a couple thousand feet below. I thought about all those cartoons where a character walks or stands on thin air right until the moment they looked down and then they fell. It was a great thing that I didn't have to worry about that. I actually burst out laughing with that. It was hard to believe, but I think that I was actually feeling better now.

'_Glad to hear that,' _the voice said. _'Now why don't you say we try that again, shall we?'_

Yes, let's try that again. I was feeling a lot more confident now. As you might expect, that was quite the achievement considering that wild first flight. So again I had to duplicate that without shooting off into space or plowing myself into the ground. I was already forming a theory on how I flew in the first place. I think that it had something to do with controlling the brightness of my aura with thought. I say that because each time I thought what I wanted to do, the aura seemed to react to it. Maybe my power of flight was thought-controlled. That wasn't unusual. Lots of supers had thought-controlled powers.

It was time to experiment with that theory. Let's see if I can move nice and slow this time. I began to think like that. I watched as my aura started to glow brighter but not as bright as earlier. I felt myself start to move just as slow as I wanted. I smiled as I figured out that my theory was right. I really could control my speed with my thoughts. Now if I could figure out how to change direction or just roll over. I was slightly on my back from the fall and was in a sense gliding backwards. I tried rolling over like I would if I was in bed. I found out really quickly that maybe I tried just a little too hard, because I was spinning like a top for a few seconds before I stopped facing downward. Well, I guess that was one way to roll over, but next time I should do it without trying to make myself sick in the process.

I then formed another theory in my head. If I used my body motion to roll over, then maybe I could use it to change direction. It was worth a try. I started by trying to turn right. I bent my upper body toward the right. At first nothing happened, but then I slowly started turning to the right. I found the last piece of my flying puzzle, but I was slightly disappointed. I was hoping that I could turn faster than this. I wanted to see if throwing my legs in the opposite direction would help, but I didn't want to accidentally send myself into another spin. I tried something different. I held out my right arm to see if that would do anything. It made me dip to the right and made my turn tighter. That seemed to help a little, but I was beginning to think that the reason I wasn't turning quickly was because I wasn't flying quickly. I was more like gliding through the sky. I made a full right circle and stopped turning. I now wanted to try turning to the left, but I wanted to see something. I first brightened my aura slightly so I flew faster. I then held out my left arm and dipped to the left. This time I pulled my upper body up along with my legs. It caused me to make an incredibly tight turn. In fact, I made two full left turns in less time that it took me to make the one full right turn. I didn't stop there, though. The moment I ended my turn I pulled up again and made a loop. I found myself smiling widely and almost laughing as I made the loop. I think that I was having way too much fun doing this. That was really hard to believe.

Speaking of which, I now had to get serious. I think that I've learned the basics of my flying abilities and now I had to go meet Leon and Chance at the park. It's been way past ten minutes and they were probably there waiting for me. I looked down to see where I was over the city. I found out that I was in luck. Despite my wild flying and experimenting, I didn't really move all that much over my neighborhood. I could definitely recognize some familiar landmarks from this height and could spot the park easily. It was the only dark spot in a sizeable radius. Using my newly learned abilities, I turned toward the park and flew towards it. I was descending just slowly enough so that I wouldn't crash into the ground. I made it to the park in a matter of seconds. When I was over the park, I slowed down and looked for a place to land. I realized at that moment that I didn't know how to land yet, and while I was thinking how to do that, my aura vanished again. Since I was just barely moving when that happened, I fell like a rock and hit the ground like one as well. Luckily, I was at least eight or so feet above the ground and it was soft so it didn't hurt…much. It left me pretty stunned. I guess that's the reason why belly flops were better performed in water than on land, although from eight feet up it probably wouldn't have mattered much either way. Almost immediately I heard footsteps coming toward me and then a voice.

"Hey, are you alright?" It was Leon's voice.

"Yeah," I groaned, slowly getting back onto my feet. "Just a hard landing, that's all."

When I stood up and dusted myself off, I turned around and saw both Leon and Chance standing there in their super suits. It was great to see that they were taking this seriously enough to dress up in their suits. However, I quickly noticed that they were looking at me strangely. I forgot that this was the first time that they saw me in my super suit. Of course, since I just got it and was wearing it for the first time, then it shouldn't been all that strange to begin with. I also noticed that I was actually slightly thirsty. I knew that it couldn't be from the outside temperature as it was still very mild. I also knew that I wasn't overheated as my suit was still as cool as when I first put it on. I definitely had plenty to drink earlier. Could it possibly be that my flight powers actually dehydrated me a little? It was way too early to tell since I only flew just this one time. But if it was the case, then I might've just found my first weakness. It shouldn't really be all that surprising since all supers have at least one weakness. It didn't make me feel any better to think about it, though.

"Whoa, that's such a cool suit," Chance said. "How long have you had it?"

"I actually got it a few hours ago," I told him. "Mom thought that it would be a good idea if I got my own suit after what happened at that mall."

"That was a good idea," Leon agreed. "That's a really nice suit. I'm actually kind of jealous. I think it's awesome that you could actually fly as well. You never told us that you could do that."

"I'm still learning," I said. "I still haven't quite got the hang of it yet. Did you see me flying around up there before I came here?"

"No, we just saw you come in and then had that crappy landing. It's a good thing that you were close to the ground. I guess that any landing that you could walk away from is a good one." He chuckled after that.

"Don't be so hard on her," Chance said. "Flying is easy, but landing is hard. I still mess up sometimes." When he saw the look on my face he added, "I can change into several species of birds or insects. All of them have their own flight characteristics and sometimes I forget which form I'm in, which makes me totally blow the landing sometimes."

"I bet," I agreed.

"Speaking of birds, I see that's your symbol," Leon said. "Do you have a super name?"

"Yeah, it's Phoenicia," I said.

"Phoenicia, hmm," Chance said. "Wasn't that the name of some ancient country?"

"I don't know. I just picked it by combining phoenix with my mother's super name Electricia. She actually came up with the idea when she said that I could fly and shoot fire almost like a phoenix."

"I really like that name," Leon said. "It has a nice ring to it."

"Same here," Chance agreed.

"Thanks," I told them. "I'm actually curious how you two got your names. Care to tell me?"

"My name came to me the moment I found out about my powers," Leon replied. "I know that Chameleon's not the most original super name in the world. I'm still thinking if there's a way I could jazz it up a little since no one knows me at this point."

Chance then answered. "For me, well, you might think this is funny. I chose my name after watching Star Trek. There's this race called the changelings and it seemed to fit me well. Unlike Leon here, I'm actually proud of my name."

"Hey, I never said that I wasn't proud of my name," Leon argued. "I just think that it could use a little spice to it, that's all."

"How much spice could you put on Chameleon? Unless you were trying to cook a real one, that is." Chance laughed with that, and I even let out a giggle.

"Okay, I think it's time to get serious now," Leon cut in. "Let's go over those tables we went to before and you could tell us what's really going on."

"Sure," I said. "But first I need to get a drink of water. I'm really thirsty"

We went over to the drinking fountains where I then proceeded to get a drink. That water tasted really good right then. I thought that I wasn't all that thirsty, but I ended up drinking close to a full minute. Wow, I must've been really dehydrated.

"Jeez, drink much lately?" Chance said when I was done.

"Sorry, I must've been more thirsty than I thought," I told him. "Okay, let's go."

We went over to the picnic table area and sat down at the same table we went to a few days earlier. There was something very ironic about this, but I couldn't tell what it was. Maybe it was the fact that we were supers meeting at a picnic table in a public park to discuss detailed information. Inexperience to the extreme, I suppose. It was all we had at the moment. Besides, who's would be out here at this time of night, other than those out causing trouble?

"Okay, tell us what's going on," Leon said. "What happened earlier?"

I took a deep breath. "Okay, my dad hasn't been home since Friday morning. There were times when he did have to stay there at work longer than usual but never this long. After we got back from getting my suit earlier this evening and we saw that he still wasn't back, I guess that Mom got so worried that she called ATI. They told her that he was still working, but I could tell that she didn't believe it. Then, when I went outside for some air, our mysterious woman friend paid me a little visit, and…"

"Wait a sec," Leon interrupted. "That woman was at your house? Are you serious? What was she doing there? What did she look like?"

"I couldn't tell," I told him. "She blindfolded me before she told me anything. I was able to see that she had on either a black or dark colored glove before she blindfolded me, so I assumed that she was wearing her super suit."

"She actually blindfolded you?" Chance asked with some surprise in his voice. "Why did she do that?"

"I don't know," I replied. "I thought that was very strange myself. If she's supposed to be our ally, then it would make sense for her to tell us who she really is."

"What did she tell you?" Leon asked.

"She seemed to know what Etybonan means but didn't tell me.. She did say that it might have something to do with nanobots."

"Nanobots?" Leon asked with confusion. "What are nanobots?"

I started to answer, but Chance interrupted. "Wait a minute. I read in a newspaper article that ATI has been researching nanotechnology. They said that it's supposed to revolutionize the world in the future."

"Something like that," I said. "She said that they made a breakthrough and made these tiny robots that they call nanobots. She suspects that the CEO might try to use them to destroy Metroville."

"John Harriman?" Leon said. "But that doesn't make any sense. Why would he want do destroy Metroville? How are those nanobots supposed to destroy this city anyway?"

"She made a comparison to them and soldiers ants. The nanobots are supposed to eat through this city the same way that soldier ants eat through a rainforest."

"Wow," Chance said, clearly amazed. "That's just unbelievable. But it just doesn't sound remotely realistic. In order to destroy a city as big as Metroville, you would need billions of those robots. There's no way you could manufacture all those robots in such a short time, no matter how small they are." He then added. "Well, maybe if you could make them self-replicate, then maybe you could have a chance. It still would be incredibly difficult, though. The programming needed for that alone would be almost impossible to achieve, at least for now."

Chance seemed to know a lot about these types of things. In fact, I had a feeling that he might be able to figure out things that I know that I couldn't. I was going to ask him a question about that, but Leon then spoke to me.

"Let's move on to something else. You said that Edna called you and said that she picked up strange life readings from your mother and you suspect that she may be captured. Why do you say that? Who do you think captured her?"

"I don't know for sure," I admitted. "I don't even know where she went to begin with. I know that it had something to trying to find Dad, but that's it. I think that ATI itself might be the best starting point. As for Edna, I don't know why she called. She was asking for Dad, but then told me about that reading. She was very hesitant about that, too. I pretty much had to drag it out of her. From what she told me, Mom's not dead, more like knocked out or something. That's why I think that she was captured. I'm also thinking that if Edna's able to read that, then she might know where my mom is. So it might be a great idea if we went to her mansion first before we do anything else."

"I think so, too," Chance said. "Just about every super's suit has built-in sensors that monitor life signs and can pinpoint their exact location. It's supposed to be a safety feature that can alert other supers if they get hurt or something."

"Is there anything else that you could tell us?" Leon asked.

"I don't think so," I replied. "I think I told you everything."

We sat there in silence for a minute. I think that we were all thinking about what I said and see if we could learn anything new, not to mention if there was anything that we could do about it. I had the feeling that we were already in over our heads and we had yet to do anything. Suddenly this didn't sound like such a great idea after all. At that moment Chance stood up from the table and started talking.

"Well, I think it's obvious what we have to do," he said.

"It is?" Leon and I said at almost exactly the same time.

"Yep." He then started pacing. "We go to Edna's mansion and find out where your mother is. We then go to that place where she's being held prisoner and attempt to rescue her. And maybe in the process, we stop Project Etybonan in its tracks."

"What?" I almost yelled, jumping out of the seat. "What do you mean, try and stop Project Etybonan in its tracks? That's insane! How are we supposed to do that? We don't even know everything about it. What makes you think that we even can stop it? That sounds way out of our league. And how is it even related to the capturing of my mom? It doesn't make any sense."

"Actually, it makes perfect sense," Chance told me. "Think about it. Your dad hasn't been home since Friday morning, right? And you did say that he's one of the heads in the R&D department. That means that he probably had a huge part in ATI's nanotechnology program from the beginning, which means that he knows a lot about the way those nanobots work. If you're going to use them to try to destroy Metroville, then you wouldn't want anyone who knows about them running around loose, so you imprison them or maybe even something worse. I hope that's not the case. As for your mother, she was probably caught at the wrong place at the wrong time while looking for your dad. And you said that she still may be alive, which means that whoever has her didn't want to kill her, but just keep her out of the way for a while. See a coincidence there?"

I started to say something, but Leon cut in. "He's right. That is way too much a coincidence. They might actually be connected somehow. So I guess that if we do this, then we have to rescue both your parents and stop Project Etybonan. There's no other way around it either, I guess." He chuckled. "Well, I guess we'll get all the experience we need. Man, talk about getting on the fast track."

"Exactly," Chance said.

"I don't know," I said. "I was hoping that it wouldn't come to this. I just wanted to rescue my mom and maybe my dad and just hope that everything goes right. I wasn't expecting to jump headfirst into stopping Project Etybonan itself. It just seems too big for us alone to try and stop. Besides, it's such a big unknown. We still don't know much about it. We might be charging into something that could get all of us killed."

"I already thought of that," Chance said. "Like Leon said, we might not have a choice in this. If we do go to help your mother, then we might have to stop Etybonan at the same time. Believe me, I don't like it either, but we might not have a choice. Besides, we might be the only chance that your parents have."

I really wish that he didn't say that last line right then. I was already feeling guilty enough as it was and that just made it a lot worse. But I also knew that he was probably right about everything that he said. The disappearance of my dad, the capturing of my mom and Project Etybonan now seemed to be connected. It now looked impossible to rescue my parents without stopping Etybonan at the same time. God, why did everything suddenly become so complicated?

"Okay, it's now decision time," Chance said. "If we go, then there's a chance that we could die. However, if we actually pull this off and save Metroville, then we could be three of the greatest supers this city's ever seen. That would be quite a debut, don't you think? I'm game for doing this. How about you two?" He held out his right hand with the palm downward. "Are we in this for the long haul? United we stand?"

Neither of us did anything for a moment, then Leon placed his hand on top of his brother's. "What the hell," he said. "We only live once, right?"

They both then looked at me. I was still conflicted about this, but I couldn't bail out now, no matter how dangerous it might be. I had a feeling that I was going to regret this big time. With a sigh I placed my own hand on top of theirs.

"I still think that we're totally crazy for doing this," I said. I then added, "Then again, maybe deep down we're all crazy."

Leon looked at me and smiled. I found myself smiling back. And so there we were, probably the three most unlikely and inexperienced supers ever to attempt something like this. I wondered if we could actually do this or would we all end up dying. For a moment, I really didn't care about that. I knew that no matter what happened, we would've given it our best shot. Now, to the rescue…hopefully.


	15. Flight of the Phoenicia

_Author's note: Hey, you guys are still reading this story, aren't you? It'll get better, I promise. Anyway, here's another _**very long** _chapter. I thought about seriously cutting it down but then decided against it. So beware, read at your own risk. And please review. _

**Chapter 15**

There had to be a word for this whole situation somewhere in the dictionary. I already mentioned fate a few times before and probably would've chalked it up to just that if it was any other time. I have to admit that I never really believed in fate before. I always thought that most things happened because they just did and other things happened because you let them happen. And now, well, I was thinking that this had to have gone beyond being just fate. It had to be something bigger than that alone to have changed my life so completely around in such a short time. Okay, maybe not _completely _around. Yes, I was now actually willing to put on my super suit and attempt the possible rescue of my parents although I was still very reluctant about stopping Project Etybonan in the process. I still have yet to figure out how I really felt about the whole thing, though. I guess that the best way to describe it was a kind of neutral feeling. I was nowhere near excited to be doing this, but I wasn't exactly terrified about it, either. Judging by the small amount of butterflies in my stomach, though, I figured that I was slightly leaning toward the terrified part. That is a very strange feeling. I wondered if all the other supers felt this way when they first started out. I wondered how my two new partners were feeling at that moment. Were they scared themselves, or did they have their own feelings about this? I suppose that whatever our feelings were, we had to work together as well as trust each other if we were going to make this work.

Anyway, as I was saying, that part of my life might have changed, but the fear of my powers still remained. Okay, part of that isn't exactly true. I admit that my power of flight was pretty awesome. I remembered how I actually started to enjoy it at the end of my experimental flight. I was sure that maybe when I got the hang of flying it would be quite the rush, that is, if I fully got over my fear of heights before then. I also knew that flight wasn't all that dangerous a power, except for me if I wasn't careful, anyway. My power to shoot fireballs, however, was a far different story, and I doubted that was ever going to change. That was always going to be a dangerous power, no matter what. Unlike my flight power, I wasn't sure if I could control the intensity of my fire power. On top of that, I was shocked by the amount of destructive power the gloves added. In fact, for a split second I was actually thinking of going without my glove. But I knew that going without gloves would be just as bad as going without a mask since leaving fingerprints would be exactly like someone seeing your face. So I had no choice but to wear them and hope for the best. Of course, I could pray all I want about not having to use them and that still wouldn't help anything. It was nothing but wishful thinking on my part. For that reason, I guess that the only choice was that if something happened, I would just have to deal with it by any means necessary. I didn't like the sound of that one bit, but as I said, there probably wouldn't be much of a choice in that matter.

So now that those things were answered, another question popped into my mind. Where exactly do we go from here? It was nice and all that Chance made that little speech of his a few moments ago, but it seemed worthless if we didn't have a plan to back it up. In fact, for at least a couple minutes after we agreed to go, we were looking at each other with what I imagine were clueless faces. That wasn't surprising at all, We still didn't know everything about Project Etybonan or what that word even meant, we didn't know what we'd be up against, we didn't know if my parents were truly in danger, we didn't know where to go if they were, and hell, even if we did know where to go, I didn't know how we'd get there together. If we couldn't figure out any of those things, then how on earth did we expect to be successful in this little adventure? I've said it before and I'll say it again here. Inexperience to the extreme.

"So what do we do now?" I asked. If one of us was going to ask that, then I figured that I would be the one to do it.

"Just what we said earlier," Changeling said. "We go to Edna's mansion and find out where your mother is, we attempt a rescue and maybe stop Project Etybonan."

"I know that," I told him. "I was just wondering how we're supposed to get to Edna's mansion in the first place. It's way too far to just walk there, and only you and me could actually fly. So how are we going to get there together?"

"Don't worry," Chameleon replied. "We've already got that covered. Come on, let's go. Our house is just a few blocks down the road."

We left the park and started walking down the street that led to their house. I wondered what he meant by having it covered. I probably should've known that they've already had some way of getting there. Just exactly what it was I didn't know, but I was going to find out in a few minutes.

"I have to ask, what changed your mind?" Changeling asked me. "I thought that you didn't want any more part in doing this."

"I didn't," I replied. "I really don't know what changed my mind. I guess that everything that's happened over the past few days has affected me more than I thought. I suppose that's part of the reason. But that doesn't mean that I'm going to like doing this. I still hate my powers and the fact that I might have to use them. I hope that this whole thing goes as smoothly as possible. Let's just leave it at that, okay?"

"Sure, no problem," Chameleon replied.

"Yeah," Changeling agreed. He then said, "I was just thinking, since there are the three of us and we'll be working together, we should come up with a cool team name."

"Team name?" Chameleon asked his brother.

"Yeah," he replied. "Don't get me wrong, our names are good and all, but I think that we should decide on a team name, in case we do this again or something. We know that supers that band together sometimes went on to form great teams. I think that we could make a great team. We could come up with something catchy. Let's see, there were the Incredibles, the Phantasmics, Beta Force, the Thrilling Three, the Rad Squad, the Significant Seven…"

"Uh, I wouldn't exactly call the Significant Seven a great team," Chameleon interrupted. "They seemed to screw up more often than saving the city, not to mention that they didn't get along with each other much. They only lasted, what, five, six months tops. It was probably a great concept at first, but they just didn't seem to make it work."

"I wasn't saying that we become like the Significant Seven. I don't want anything that big and chaotic. Just keep it between the three of us for now, and maybe add another member later on. You know, I just had a nice thought. It would be really awesome if we could get that lady to join us. She was at your house and spoke to you, Jess. What do you think would be the chances of her joining us?"

"I don't know," I said. "Probably not all that great. For all we know, she could already be a part of one of those teams. Besides, she told me that she really didn't want us to be physically involved in this. As for me, I don't think that we should be talking about becoming a team. I don't know if I'll even be doing this again after this whole thing is done. This would more than likely end up being just a one time only thing for me."

"Never say never about that," Chameleon said. "A lot of things can change between now and then."

"I know," I said. "That's one of the main reasons that I hate it."

"It's kind of strange that the woman would tell us all those things and then say not to get involved," Changeling said. "If that was the case, then why bother speaking to us at all? Still, it's a shame that she couldn't join us. We could use her experience, especially at a time like this. Anyway, I still think that we could come up with a name for ourselves."

"Look, forget the stupid team name, okay?" Chameleon told him. "We've got more important things to worry about right now."

"Yeah, okay. But I'll still be thinking up a name for us."

Chameleon sighed loudly and I happened to agree with him. The poor boy seemed to have a one track mind.

I used that time to ask them a question that I have been meaning to for a while. "I'm just curious, why haven't you two ever told your parents that you were supers? I know that you told me that they weren't supers themselves. You both know why I haven't told my own parents about me. So why haven't you told your own parents about yourselves?"

"Well, it's really complicated," Chameleon said. "To start off, our parents hate all supers with a passion. They don't even like our aunt and uncle who are both supers themselves. As for why, well, I'm sure you've heard of the Metro Heights Massacre, right?"

"Of course," I replied.

The Metro Heights Massacre was something that most people here in Metroville knew about. It happened on Christmas Eve 1980 at the Metro Heights Mall which was on the north side of town. To this day, no one actually knew what exactly went on inside the mall that evening, but the basic story to that was that at least two of the Incredibles, Elastigirl and Ultraviolet, were fighting a villain inside the mall when a huge explosion happened, killing at least thirty two people. They never talked about that incident, at least not to my knowledge. The anti-super crowd uses the Massacre as the main cause to have all supers banned permanently.

"I wasn't there personally," he said. "Of course, I was only a year old at the time. However, another one of our uncles and our older sister were there. They were shopping for gifts for our entire family when it all went down. They got separated in the panic that followed. Later, much later in fact, our uncle found out that our sister was one of the thirty two people killed. She was only three years old."

"Oh, God," I said in shock. "I'm so sorry to hear that."

"It's alright," he said. "It's no big deal really. We didn't even know her. I was only one and Chance hadn't even been born yet. Don't get me wrong, there are times that we wonder what it would be if she was still alive. She would be eighteen now. Would she be a kind, caring sister or one of those that always nagged on their younger brothers about how immature they are? We'll never know. But anyway, our parents as you would expect were completely devastated. They didn't blame our uncle for what happened. Instead, they put the blame totally on the Incredibles, saying how they were totally reckless and inconsiderate and it not only resulted in the death of their daughter but thirty one other people. They wanted to sue them for millions but they couldn't because of that law that was passed when the ban was lifted. It quickly went from an intense hatred of the Incredibles to an intense hatred of all supers. When our aunt and other uncle, the ones that were supers, tried to talk to them about that, they all had a huge fight which ended in our parents telling them to stay the hell away and never come back again. They haven't spoken to each other in thirteen years now. They attended just about every anti-super rally since then. They wanted us to go to them, in fact they still do, but we refused every time. They don't even suspect that we are supers ourselves. When we found out that we had powers, we already knew that it probably wouldn't be the best of ideas if we told them. So we told our aunt and uncle. Our parents don't even want us to talk to them, but we felt that we had no choice. They were the ones that suggested that we never tell our parents about our powers. They also were the ones that gave us these suits and taught us how to use our powers and take down criminals. So basically, that's the story of why we never bothered to tell our parents about us."

Wow, that was really sad. I could definitely understand the sadness and anger that their parents felt from losing their three-year-old daughter in that way, but to use that as an excuse to hate the Incredibles and eventually all supers was just outrageous. While I didn't tell my own parents about my powers for four years, I never once suspected during that time that they would hate me for it or anything. From what Chameleon told me, it sounded like he and his brother were afraid of abandonment from their parents. I couldn't blame them for not telling their parents about their powers.

"I'm really sorry that your parents are like that," I said with some compassion in my voice.

"Don't be," Changeling said. "We're used to it. I mean, we still love our parents and they really love us, but it's really hard to guess what their reaction would be if we told them about us. So basically we just have to keep our mouths shut and agree with them about everything they say. We're not afraid that they'll disown us or anything like that. Still, we wish that they wouldn't be so close minded and stubborn about the whole thing, though."

"What was your sister's name?" I asked. "Was she a super like you two?"

"Her name was Nicole Elizabeth Harding," Chameleon told me. "We don't know if she was a super like us. She probably was if we got powers after her. We don't know what type of powers she would've had, although we bet that they were cooler than ours."

We walked the rest of the way to their house in silence. I felt really guilty for bringing something like that up with them. There was no way I could've known that, but it still affected me the same. I found myself wondering if at one time they really missed having an older sister. They said it was no big deal now, but what about when they were younger? Also, I wondered if they once shared the same hate toward the Incredibles that their parents have. I really don't think that they did, but it was really hard to tell.

We made it to their house about two minutes later. It was a little smaller than my house but almost looked the same. Most of the houses in this area of town shared many of the same features. The only real difference between their house and my house was that this one had a separate garage. There were no lights on in any of the windows so I figured that their parents were still asleep. Now that we were here, I was going to find out what they had in mind in getting to Edna's mansion.

"I'll be back," Changeling said. "I need to get a few things." He then went inside the house.

"Here, come on," Chameleon said to me. "I need you to help me open the garage door."

We both went over to the garage. Chameleon then proceeded to unlock the door. The sliding bolt made a loud screeching noise when he moved it, making me wince. I quickly looked back at the house to see if any lights came on. I had a feeling that their parents wouldn't approve of what we were about to do, supers or not.

"Don't worry," he said. "Our parents are sound sleepers. They can sleep through anything. Nothing short of a foghorn will wake them up, especially at this time of night. Here, take that side of the door and I'll take this side. Careful, this door's really heavy. Okay, ready? Lift!"

Together we lifted the garage door. He was right and it was very heavy. We were both straining and grunting under the weight. It was also making a lot of noise, a lot more than I would've liked, regardless of what he said about his parents. A moment later we finished raising the door. We were both slightly out of breath from the effort.

"Wow, you guys ever believe in garage door openers?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah," he told me. "My mom keeps telling my dad to buy one, but he thinks that they're too expensive and unreliable. Besides, he says we need a good workout now and then."

Inside the garage were two vehicles. One was a shiny dark blue late model sedan. The other was a beat up, faded and extremely rusted old car. It really didn't come as a surprise to me since I already suspected that a car may be involved in this the moment we came to the garage. I didn't know which one or those cars we were going to take, but I had the sneaky suspicion that it would be more like stealing it instead of borrowing it.

"You can drive a car?" I asked him.

"Well, kinda," he said hesitantly.

"_Kinda? _What exactly is that supposed to mean?"

"Just that, kinda. I am sixteen after all and do have a learner's permit."

Oh, boy. I didn't like where this was going. "I know that I'll probably regret asking this, but just exactly how many times have you driven before?"

He chuckled. "Do you really want the honest answer to that?"

And regretted it, I did. "In that case, forget I asked."

"Once," he replied anyway.

My jaw dropped to the floor. _**ONCE?** _"Oh, God, we're gonna die."

"Don't be so melodramatic, Jess. I got the basic handle on it. We'll get there in once piece, hopefully."

I groaned loudly. "You know, I was just starting to feel better right up to the point you said that. Okay, which car are we taking?"

"This one here," he said, pointing to the beat up, faded and extremely rusted old car. My already shaky confidence level almost totally collapsed.

"God, we really are going to die," I moaned.

"Hey, it might not look like much, but it's still a good car. I'll get us there. Besides, I plan on fixing it up. It's not going to look like this forever."

"It might not last that long," I said under my breath.

"What was that?" he asked.

"Nothing, nothing. So, is this your car?"

"Yep, sure is," he said. "Dad surprised me with it about a year ago. And yes, I admit that I thought that it was a messed up rustmobile when I first saw it. But then I realized that this car has a lot of potential. It just needs, well, everything to make it a great car again. Chance and I are actually thinking of making it our official supermobile."

I raised an eyebrow and my mouth fell slightly in surprise. "You're kidding, right? _This _thing? A supermobile?"

"Yes, _this _thing," he said with some annoyance. "Some of the best supermobiles out there are the most unlikely ones. It doesn't come much more unlikely than this. Now, if you're done insulting my car, we're going to need your help in pushing it out of here."

"Pushing it out of here? What do you mean? This car has an engine, right? This isn't like the Flintstones' car and we have to move it with our feet, is it?"

He sighed in frustration. "There you go again with the insults."

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," I apologized. "No more insults, I promise. But why do we need to push it out?"

"The engine's really loud and I don't want to start it up here in the garage," he said. "I did say that my parents can sleep through anything, but I don't want to push our luck. We'll push the car down to the end of the block and start it up there."

Just then Changeling came back from the house and into the garage. He had some papers with him. "I'm back," he said.

"What are those papers?" I asked him.

"Oh, these? They're just some notes about everything we know so far. I figured that they could help us out."

"Do you really think so?" I asked.

"Not really. It isn't much, but it's all we got."

"Alright," Chameleon piped up. "Let's go and get this over with. Come sit in the driver seat, Jess. Chance and I will push the car."

I went ahead and got into the driver seat of the car. At least the seats were comfortable, probably the only real nice part of this car. Yeah, I know that I promised Chameleon that I wouldn't insult his car again, but it was only out loud. I never did say that I wouldn't secretly think about it though. I'm sorry, but I still had a hard time believing that this piece of…okay, this **_car_** would make it twelve blocks, let alone all the way to Edna's place twenty miles from here. It was that bad looking. Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised. Chameleon and Changeling took their positions in the back of the car.

"Okay, Jess," Chameleon said. "Pull the shifter down to neutral. Be careful steering. It'll be kind of tough."

I reached for the shifter and struggled with it for a moment. It seemed stuck. Eventually I got to move into neutral. "Done," I said.

"Okay, Chance, push," Chameleon told his brother. Together they began pushing the car out of the garage. They were grunting and groaning and really putting their backs behind it, but it still took a while to reach the end of their driveway. Once there I turned the wheel to the right. Chameleon was right and it really was hard to steer. I ended up making a wide right turn before straightening out. Luckily the street slightly sloped down in that direction so it should make it a lot easier for them to push the car. After a few minutes we made it to the end of the block, where they then proceeded to collapse against the car, totally out of breath.

"Are you two alright?" I asked them.

"Just give us a moment here," Chameleon panted out. "We'll be fine."

They rested up for a minute and then got into the car. I moved over to the front passenger seat while Chameleon sat in the driver seat and Changeling in the back seat. Chameleon reached into a hidden pocket and pulled out the key

"You guys ready?" he asked us.

"As we'll ever be," Changeling said.

"Are you really sure you can handle driving this car?" I asked one last time.

He sighed. "For the last time, Jess, yes, I can handle it. Yes, I've only drove once before, but I can do it just fine. So stop worrying about it, okay?"

"Well, excuse me for fearing for my life in this rolling rustbucket," I blurted out before I could stop it.

His face turned red. "Okay, that's it," he said angrily. "If you think that this car is so unsafe, then by all means get out and fly to her mansion. I'm sure that would be a helluva lot safer for you. After all, you've only actually flown once, so you've got a handle on doing that without any worries, right?"

I fiercely scolded myself right then. Sometimes I say things that I never meant to say out loud. "I'm sorry…" I started to say.

He held up a hand to stop me. "Just save it. You meant what you said, so don't bother taking it back. Let's just get there and be done with it, alright?" It looked like the anger he had towards me over the mall incident was still there. I think that our effort to work together without any problems just took a huge step backwards.

'_Smooth move, Jess,' _my inner voice said.

He started up the car. He was right when he said that he didn't want to start it up in the garage. The thing was loud enough to wake the whole neighborhood. He put the car in gear and we were off. He definitely could drive, but he still showed a lot of the signs of being a beginner. Luckily the streets were almost deserted at this time so the chances of us getting into an accident were remote. None of us said a word during most of the drive, probably one half because of my little slip up, and the other half because we likely wouldn't be able to hear each other over the engine noise.

We were barely out of the city and about six miles away from the mansion when I asked Changeling if I could see his papers. I figured that I could see what he had and hopefully could learn anything new before we got there. It was really hard to read by moving streetlight, but I saw that the papers didn't have anything new on them. It was basically the same stuff that we already knew. Disappointed, I turned and looked out the window at the passenger side mirror. I read the words on it, _**'CAUTION: OBJECTS IN MIRROR ARE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR'**. _I always found that saying funny for some reason. I don't know why. Maybe it just sounded funny, but…

I blinked just then. Reading those words suddenly made me remember something that I've heard just recently. _"By the way, you might want to look in the mirror. You might be surprised at what you see." _I didn't know what that meant, but if I was thinking about it so strongly, then it had to mean something. I looked back down at the papers in my lap. The top paper had the word Etybonan written on it in big capitol letters. I guess that he was trying to figure out if that word was an acronym. It was right then that I had the feeling that I've just solved a major clue, but I didn't know what it was. I looked out at the mirror and then back down at the paper.

"Look in the mirror," I murmured under my breath to myself, too low for either Chameleon or Changeling to hear me.

I looked back and forth between the mirror and the paper a few times before I finally figured it out. No way! It couldn't be that simple, could it? Was it really so completely under our noses that we all missed it? There was only one way to find out. I couldn't use the outside mirror to test it out, so I reached up and turned the rearview mirror toward me.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Chameleon asked.

"Testing out something," I told him.

I folded up the paper just below the word and then held it up to the mirror. I saw it almost immediately. Just flip a couple of the letters around and the word spelled out, **'NANOBYTE'. **I knew it! I knew that there was something in that word that I saw but couldn't figure out until now. I felt really stupid for not seeing it all this time. I was usually great at solving puzzles and clues.

"Take a look at that," I told the two boys.

Chameleon turned on the inside light and he and his brother both looked into the mirror. I probably should've been concerned that he now had his eyes in the mirror instead of on the road, but that didn't matter at this moment.

"Does that say…nanobyte?" Chameleon wondered out loud.

Changeling moved up even closer to take a real good look. "Yes, it does," he said. He sat back down in the seat and slapped his hand against his forehead. "Duh! Of course! I knew that there was something strange about that word. How could I have not seen it? Man, I feel so stupid. I could usually figure out these things."

"Join the club," I told him.

"Okay, we're all stupid for not seeing it," Chameleon said. "But what does nanobyte mean?"

"It could mean a lot of things," Changeling told him. "Maybe it has something to do with the nanobots. You did say the woman recognized the word but didn't say anything to you. She might be our best bet in knowing exactly what it means."

"Good luck finding her then," Chameleon said. "Okay, we're here."

We pulled up to the entrance of Edna's mansion. Okay, I did say that I would be pleasantly surprised if this car actually made it here, and it did, so I guess that I was surprised. Anyway, it felt very weird to now be here twice in less than eight hours, and I still thought that laser fence of hers was wasteful. Now that it was night, I could see that it was pulsing and was making this eerie red glow on everything around it. I couldn't see any lights on at the mansion itself, but that didn't mean that Edna wasn't awake.

"I wonder how much energy it takes to power that fence," Changeling said.

"I don't know," Chameleon said. "A lot, that's for sure. You think she's still up?"

"I don't know," I said. "It's hard to tell from here."

We then heard that strange mechanical noise and then the black pole came up from the ground. The holographic projector flashed on and that same huge guy appeared. Does he ever sleep?

"Do you have an appointment?" he asked.

"No, we don't," Chameleon told him. "We're here to see Edna."

"All visitors are…"

It was there where I interrupted him this time. "Look, we don't have time to hear that. This is an emergency. We need to see Edna now. Let us in."

He started to say something else, but that was when he was getting whacked on by a newspaper. I was expecting that to happen. But still, how could a huge muscle bound man let himself get handled by a tiny old lady so easily? That had to be really embarrassing.

"What are you doing this time?" Edna yelled at him. "Slacking off as usual? Go and do something constructive for just once! Check the chlorine level in the pool! Clean the main bathroom! Just get out of here and out of my sight! I don't even know why I keep you around anymore!" The upper half of her face then appeared. "Yes, who is it? What do you need? Do you have anything better to do than bother me at two in the morning?"

"Edna, it's me," I told her, moving closer to the image so she could see me.

"Jessie, darling," she greeted. "How are you? What brings you here at this hour?"

"I think you know why I'm here," I told her.

"Yes, I figured you might come. So much like your mother, Ronnie." She sighed. "Very well. Come on, darling." The fence flashed off and we went through. Chameleon and Changeling both gave me weird looks.

"Jessie?" Chameleon asked with some amusement in his voice. "She calls you Jessie?"

"Don't even start," I warned him. At least I now know how Mom felt earlier.

We pulled up to the front of the mansion and got out of the car. Ah, blessed silence at last! That car was loud enough to make my headache threaten to return. We barely got up the steps before the doors opened and Edna came outside.

"Hello, Jessie, darling," she said. "Nice to see you again so soon. That suit looks fabulous on you, darling. What can you say, though? It was designed by the great Edna Mode, extraordinaire." She then turned to the two boys. "Chance, Leon, nice to see you two darlings again as well. How are your aunt and uncle doing? They never call me anymore. Why is that? It's been three years now. Am I really that boring a person to talk to?"

"They're doing fine," Changeling told her. "I don't know why they haven't called you."

"Tell them to do that, would you darling? I really miss our talks. Besides, it's time for them to get new suits. They've been wearing the same rags now for almost five years."

"Isn't that a little too soon for a new suit?" Chameleon asked in confusion.

"No, darling, definitely no," she almost shouted. "It's never too soon for a new suit. If I had my way, every super would be getting a new suit every year. It's too bad that they are all so fashion challenged that they don't know a good update to their look if it stared them straight in the face. I know what's hot and what's not in the fashion world. They think that it's perfectly fine to wear the same rags for ten years, maybe more." She sighed loudly. "What a terrible world we live in."

"Edna, where is my mother?" I asked, trying to steer this conversation back in that direction. "Do you know if she's still alright?"

"Ah, yes, your mother. Well, I guess that you don't want to be kept waiting on that, darling. Come on in. And remember, it's E, darling. Call me E."

"Okay, then…E," I said as we went inside the mansion. "I have to know, why did you call me to tell me about my mother?"

"You really weren't supposed to know about that, darling," she replied. "It was your father's doing. He wanted me to inform him if something happened to your mother. As if I didn't already have enough things on my pallet. Hmph. I have more important things to do than play nurse. But he begged, darling, he begged. It's a big weakness of mine. Of course, I might've already said that, and now I'm saying it again. He can do something like that on his own time, but oh, no, I just had to give in like I always do. Everybody wants a favor from Edna these days. I'm almost ready to stop all favors here and now. See how they like that."

I looked over at Chameleon and Changeling and they had the same confused expression that I probably had on my own face. Jeez, a single simple sentence would've answered that question just fine, maybe even better. I was almost sorry I asked it to begin with. She really was 'Crazy E'.

When we entered the living room, Edna then asked, "Would any of you darlings like some tea? It's freshly brewed."

"Sure, I'll have some," Changeling said.

I was very reluctant about her tea. "Um, it's not that Japanese tea, is it?" I asked.

"Of course not, darling," she replied. "You know there's more than one flavor of tea. Here, have some, darling. You might be surprised."

She held out a cup and I slowly took it from her. I took a sniff of it, then I cautiously took a sip of the warm liquid. It tasted like normal tea, but it could've used just a tiny bit more sugar.

Edna spoke up then. "Okay, okay, now that the pleasantries are finished and all that, direct your attention to the television so that we can finally get down to business."

We turned toward the huge TV, where there was some old black and white horror movie on. I raised an eyebrow. I hope that wasn't what she wanted us to watch. If it was, then I didn't get it. What did that have to do with my mother's condition?

"Attack of the Killer Iguana?" Chameleon asked. "You actually watch this cheese?"

"Yes, darling, I do," Edna told him. "Very entertaining, and from a time when real movies were made, not the waste of celluloid of today with all their fancy schmancy CGI and all that. Moviemakers, indeed. Hmph! Just as lazy as those so-called supermodels. But, no, that's not what I wanted you to see. Pay attention next time, would you? Here, this is."

She raised the remote of the TV and pressed a couple of buttons on it. The screen changed from the movie to what looked like one of those monitors from a hospital, you know, the ones with the squiggly lines that showed that your heart was still beating. It was even making that beeping noise with every beat. The name Electricia was in the upper left corner of the screen, and below that was that very same squiggly line, so I took that as a great sign that she was still alive.

"Does that mean she's still alive?" Changeling asked.

"That's exactly what it means, darling," Edna told him. "As you can see, she's very much alive and kicking, but here's what happened at about 12:10 a.m."

She pressed another button and the moving heart monitor turned into a still picture of another. Immediately I saw that there was something very wrong with it. In the first half of the screen the peaks in the line were much closer together, indicating that my mother's heart was beating very fast. Then in the middle was a sudden sharp spike in the line, then in the second half, and probably the most scary part, the peaks were much shallower and further apart, even more so than her current condition. I had a heavy feeling in my stomach, and it wasn't from the tea.

"What happened to her?" I asked in a very soft voice.

"It looks like something bad," Changeling said. He moved closer to the TV. "Okay, I'm only guessing, but here," he pointed to the first part, "she may have been spying or got into an actual fight. The spike may mean that she got hit by a weapon or something, and this last part," he pointed to the second half, "probably means that she got knocked out cold."

A weapon. My blood chilled when he said that. What kind of weapon was it, and how badly was Mom hurt by it?

"That's quite a guess, darling," Edna told him. "Probably the right one as well. Most likely got hit by something just to knock her out. And here's where her signal's coming from."

Pressing yet another button on her remote, the screen then changed to a map of the world. It quickly zoomed in on the Metroville area, actually well outside of the city to an area not all that far from here, at least ten or so miles. A red target then appeared, supposedly pinpointing Mom's exact location. I knew exactly what that location was, and it didn't really surprise me as much as I thought it would. Chameleon apparently knew the location also.

"That's the ATI Testing Facility," he said.

"Figures," Changeling said. "That's not all that surprising considering all we know."

Edna turned off the TV. "And so there you have it," she said. "Electricia's at the ATI Testing Facility and she's still alive. Now that you know that, what are you still doing here? Don't you three have anything better to do, like rescuing her and saving the city from those nanobots?"

We turned to her in complete surprise. "You know about that?" Chameleon asked her.

"I know everything, darling," she said. "Including the woman that's been talking to you over the past few days. That's all I can say about that. Another one of those stupid favors. Now go and make a name for yourselves. I wish you luck, by the way. I'm sure you can show yourselves out. I now have someone _else _to look after. Do stop by again, though. I'm sure you'll have some great stories to tell. Ta, ta, darlings." She then left the living room.

We looked at each other with strange expressions on our faces and then left the mansion. Once outside, Chameleon said, "I think that went pretty well, don't you?"

"Man, that lady's crazy," Changeling said.

"You could say that again," I agreed.

"At least she had the right idea," he went on. "Let's make a name for ourselves. In fact, I've got a couple of ideas for a name…"

"Hey, enough with the damn team names, alright?" Chameleon told his brother. "Come on, let's go."

We didn't say anything else as we got into the car and left Edna's mansion grounds. The lonely two lane road that led to her mansion also curved through some tall wooded hills toward the ATI Testing Facility. It was only about a fifteen minute drive from the mansion so we would get there very quickly. The question was what we would do once we got there.

"I've got an idea," Chameleon said after about five minutes passed. "I'm going to stop the car at about two miles out and we can walk the rest of the way. We can spy on the place before we make any kind of move. Is that alright with you two?"

"That sounds fine and all," I said. "But what do we do once we're done spying?" I found that very ironic. I had been making a big fuss over people spying on me over the past few days and now I was going to be the one doing the spying.

"I don't know," he admitted. "I haven't thought past that yet. I guess we just have to work it out as we go along."

"In other words, you mean improvise," Changeling said.

"I didn't mean it like that, but I suppose."

"Gee, what a great plan," I said sarcastically.

"It might not be much, but it's all we have for now," Chameleon told me with some of his previous anger returning to his voice. "We're not exactly veterans here."

I did it again, speaking before thinking! "Yes, you're right," I apologized. "I'm sorry."

He sighed. "Look," he said in a much calmer voice. "I'm sorry about your mother, I really am. We are going to rescue her. Just think positively about that, okay?"

"Yeah," I said a small smile. "Thanks."

"Sure." He said with a small smile of his own.

A few moments later we learned how any type of plan, no matter how basic and improvised, can go totally wrong. We had just went through the hills and was now within three miles of the facility went the car suddenly died. We were on an incline at that moment so Chameleon let the car roll to a stop. Once it did, he tried to start it back up. Nothing happened. He tried again at least five more times before giving up. The engine just wouldn't turn over. He pounded the steering wheel hard.

"Damn, it's totally dead," he said. He turned to me. "Don't even say a word."

"I wasn't going to say anything," I told him.

"I guess that this is the end of the line," he said. "Everybody out."

We climbed out of the car and looked around. It was eerily quiet on this road. Eerie and dark. A perfect place for something to happen. I shook my head. I think that I was letting my imagination run wild. But I still couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

"Okay, what do we do now?" Changeling asked.

"Well, I suppose we just have to hoof it the rest of the way," Chameleon told him.

So we started walking toward the facility. It was right then that my right imagination was probably right all along. We didn't get even a hundred feet from the car when there was a bright green flash and a loud zapping noise. The car immediately exploded into pieces! We stared at the now flaming wreck in complete shock.

"What the hell was that?" Chameleon shouted.

"I don't know!" Changeling shouted back. "It looked like…"

Suddenly there was another zapping noise and then something green hit the street a few feet from us, showering us with sparks and pieces of asphalt!

"We're under attack!" Chameleon yelled. "Quick, into the woods!"

We bolted into the woods as fast as we could. I think that was the fastest that I ever ran at any time. I guess that's what adrenaline and raw fear would do to you. My super senses that first appeared in the mall fight came back then. I could see a lot better now, so I no longer had the chance of accidentally smacking headfirst into a tree. We ran for a while until we came up to a huge rock. We jumped behind it and fought to catch our breath.

"You two alright?" Chameleon asked through hard breaths.

"I'm fine," Changeling replied.

"Same here," I said.

"What's going on?" Chameleon asked. "What was that?"

"I don't know," Changeling said. "I think I saw something, though."

"What was it?" I asked.

"I don't know exactly," he replied. "It was flying, that's for sure, and…"

He stopped because that was when we started hearing a noise. It was very faint, but we still could hear it. It was some strange whirring noise, something that I never even remotely heard before. It was coming from the direction that we just ran from. Something was chasing us. Chameleon raised a finger to his lips, then made the top part of his body disappear. He then rose up and I guess that he was trying to see what it was. He quickly sat back down and reappeared.

"Take a look," he whispered.

Changeling and I slowly rose up and carefully peered over the rock. I could barely make out an object hovering just above the trees about a hundred feet away from us. I couldn't see most of it because the trees were in the way, but I think that it looked kind of like a…_flying saucer_? I'm serious, it looked almost like something that came right out of those corny sci-fi movies of the fifties, although I seriously doubted that it was full of little green men from Mars. It was very shiny and was probably at least ten feet across. Changeling and I both ducked back down before it saw us.

"What is that thing?" Changeling whispered.

"I don't know, but it's dangerous," Chameleon whispered back. "Jess, you think you could hit it with a fireball from here?"

"I don't think that I can," I replied. "There are too many trees in the way." I thought for a moment, then said, "I might be able to if I could get above them."

I blinked a split second after I said that. Was I actually thinking about doing something as crazy as that? Yes, I was, and I also thought that I had no other real choice. I either had to destroy that saucer thing or it was going to hunt us down and kill us. I also noticed that I was no longer as scared as I was confident. I really hoped that it wasn't a sign of the overconfidence that almost got my mother killed.

"You think that might work?" Chameleon asked.

"I don't know," I told him. "It's worth a shot, though."

He nodded his head. "Okay. Good luck and be careful."

"Yeah," Changeling added.

"Thanks," I told them. "You might want to move back. I don't want to accidentally burn you when I lift off." They nodded and slowly inched away from me.

Once they were clear, I took several deep breaths, closed my eyes, and started forming my aura. I concentrated so it would only just barely lift me instead of make me rocket off into the sky. It worked and I was slowly floating off the ground. Both boys were looking at me with amazed looks on their faces as I slowly rose up. I could see their faces clearly because my aura was illuminating the immediate area, so I had to move very quickly. I rose above the trees and saw the saucer clearly. I don't think it saw me yet because it was just hovering there doing nothing. I held out both hands and started preparing fireballs to destroy it.

And that was when it spun around and actually seemed to peer at me with a glowing red sensor on the top of it. It spotted me!

I said the first thing that came to mind right then. "Shit!"

'_You could say that again,' _my inner voice said.

Just then something started glowing green on the bottom side of the saucer. I didn't even wait to find out what that was, or at least my body didn't, because it shot to the left just as a green bolt of energy fired from the saucer, missing me by maybe a couple of feet. My sneak attack now blown, I did the only other thing that I could do, flew away like hell before it could get another shot.

'_Still that that this was such a great idea, Jess?'_

"Shut up!" I said out loud.

I looked behind me and saw that it was not only following me, but it was actually keeping up with me. I think I was now flying totally flying on instinct, because I was pulling all these crazy maneuvers that I didn't know that I could do. The saucer was still with me, but it couldn't get a clear shot at me because of my erratic flying. I don't think that I would be able to completely shake it off.

Knowing that, I did one final insane maneuver. I pulled up hard and rocketed almost straight up as fast as I dared. The saucer pulled up with me but had a hard time keeping up. It was working. Unfortunately, I couldn't keep that up because I was now getting so high up that the air was thinning out. I had to do something before I passed out from lack of oxygen. I had to fight it.

I leveled out and slowed down. It only took a few moments for the saucer to reach my altitude and moved towards me. I let it move closer and closer. My senses were screaming at me to shoot at it, but I resisted. I wanted to have a much closer target. When it got as close to me as I wanted, it started to power up it's energy weapon. That was when I attacked myself. I spun around onto my back, held out my hands, and launched the fireballs. Both hit the saucer almost dead on, making it explode very brightly. Almost immediately, though, something smashed against my forehead, totally knocking me out.

'_Jess! Wake up! You have to wake up now!'_

What? What was going on? Something was happening, but I didn't know what it was. All I know that my head was hurting very badly and something was roaring past my ears.

'_Jess, snap out of it! Wake up!'_

Something was telling me that I needed to open my eyes, but I really didn't want to. Finally I slowly opened up my eyes. My first thought was, _'Wow, what a pretty night sky. Look at all those stars.' _I could probably enjoy the sky even more if it wasn't slowly spinning around and my hair wasn't blowing around my face from that crazy wind.

"_That's no wind! You're falling, and if you don't do something you'll die!'_

What? Falling? What was falling, and who was about to die? I then remembered something. I was flying, being chased by some weird looking thing. I then shot something at it, and then…what? I didn't know.

I then started rolling over, and that was when I saw what was happening. I was up in the air but falling rapidly toward the ground. I maybe had ten seconds to do something. I tried to form my aura, but something was wrong. The aura was very weak, barely glowing at all. It was slowing me down, but not enough to completely stop my fall. I couldn't make it any more powerful. My head was just hurting way too much to concentrate.

I fell through some trees and then hit the ground hard, knocking the air out of me. Once I got my breath back, I checked to see if anything was broken. Surprisingly, I didn't have any broken bones, although I was really hurting. I was a very lucky person to have come through a fall like that and still be alive. I slowly rose up to my elbows and knees. That was when I felt something running down my face and dripping down onto the ground. I raised my left hand, carefully wiped some off my forehead, and looked at it. Blood, and quite a bit of it. Oh man, how bad was I really hurt? It was hard to tell.

'_Way to go, Jess,' _I thought. _'Not even two hours into your first time as a superhero and you're already staining your suit. I really hope that comes out.'_

I really don't know how I would've reacted if I was perfectly fine, but I immediately burst out laughing with that thought. I must've been really out of it. Once I got the laughs under control, I tried to stand up, but I barely got above my hands and knees, when I felt dizzy and nauseous. My arms collapsed and I fell back to the ground, unfortunately right on my injured forehead. A burst of sheer pain exploded in my head, reddening my vision and forcing a loud groan of pain from my chest. I felt myself starting to black out again, but before I did, I heard something moving through the woods, almost like running footsteps. The steps slowed down and then stopped right in front of me. I could only move my head just enough to see that the person was wearing dark purple boots.

My last thought before completely passing out was, _'That's definitely not Chance or Leon.'_


	16. Return of Ultraviolet

_Author's note: Hello once again friends. I actually had a lot of free time lately so I was able to finish this chapter very quickly. Sadly, though, I'm starting to come down with a pretty bad case of, ugh, writer's block. Quite a nasty little animal. Anyway, enjoy and review._

**Chapter 16**

As I very slowly regained consciousness, I was aware of a few things. One, my head was still hurting but not near as much as earlier. I couldn't tell if it was still bleeding or not. Two, while I was slowly waking up, I was still a lot closer to unconsciousness so I couldn't move anything or even open my eyes just yet. It was like my mind was the only thing waking up and everything else was still sleeping. It was very weird. Three, I was laying on something cold and hard. Concrete, maybe? It could probably be the floor of a room. It could also be a street. It maybe even could've been a flat rock. It could've been anything at that moment. I don't think that I was outside, and what I was laying on really felt like concrete, so that meant that I was probably in a room. What kind of room, though? Maybe a cell or something. That would make the most sense as I already suspected that I may have been captured. But there was no real way of knowing until I finally would be able to wake up. Four, I really felt like I could drink about a full gallon of water since I was so incredibly thirsty. And five, wherever I was, I was definitely not alone.

The voices were the first clue. I was starting to hear them as I was struggling to come back from Dreamland. I think that there were two, maybe three voices. They sounded like they were whispering although I was certain they were speaking quite loudly. In my current state, it was like trying to listen to a conversation through three thick walls with my ears stuffed full of cotton. Worse, the voices were fading in and out like a bad radio reception. So now it was like trying to listen to a static filled radio broadcast through three walls with my ears plugged up. In other words, it was impossible for me to make out a single word that they were saying, let alone a full sentence. Eventually, as I was getting closer to waking up, I began to pick up a few of the words.

"…are…sure…up yet…"

"…no…can't believe…still out…"

"Well…can't go without…we could…with us…sure…could do it."

"…not…good idea. We…make….over this ground. Look, I…seems tough…right now, but….her now. So just…alone, alright?"

The voices stopped then. I was able to determine that two of the voices were male and the other female. In fact, I think that the two male voices were Chameleon and Changeling. It was hard to be completely sure because of the broken and muffled words, but I was fairly certain that it was them. It was great to know that they were still alive. I wondered what happened to them after I fought and destroyed that flying saucer thing. Did they try to come to my rescue? Most likely they did. They had to have seen that explosion even if it that high up in the sky. And then what? Did they get captured trying to find me? If that was the case, then where were we? God, if only I could just open up my damn eyes!

Another important thing crossed my heavy fog-filled mind. Who was that female that they were just talking to? It sounded like a woman, and for some reason one that I knew. I don't think that she was someone that I knew personally, but I seemed to recognize her voice. Where have I heard it before? I wanted to say that it could quite possibly be that woman super that wanted to remain mysterious and yet help us out in limited way. But that was a pretty big stretch. What were the chances of running into her way out here? It was probably somewhere between not likely and nonexistent. However, stranger things have happened, especially over these past few days. So I guess that it wouldn't be completely out of the realm of possibility. It was just way down there, though.

I also took some time to wonder what they were just talking about. It was really hard to piece together those word fragments into understandable sentences, especially when my mind was so messed up as it was right then. But since I still have yet to force myself awake, I had nothing better to do. I began to suspect that the short conversation was about me. This was all guesswork and may not be even close to accurate, but I suspected that the first sentence was along the lines of if I was up yet. The second sentence was someone saying that they couldn't believe that I was still out. That probably meant that I was unconscious for a while. Just how bad had I been hurt? I hope that it wasn't deadly serious. The third sentence was probably one of them saying that they couldn't go without me but I couldn't understand the rest. And the fourth sentence said that something wasn't a good idea and that there was probably nothing more they could do for me now. As I said, all that was just guessing and may not even be right, but it did seem to make sense from the words that I was able to hear.

I felt something move tenderly across my forehead right then. I think that it was a rag or something. It was probably someone treating my wound. Well, whoever this person was, they were nice or at least considerate enough to take care of me. It probably wasn't a good idea to have me continuing to bleed everywhere. I went back to the question of how bad I have been hurt. I sort of knew that I had to have been hit right in the forehead by a piece of the exploding saucer. It had to have hit me pretty bad for me to feel like this. The rag treating my wound left and then I felt something else being placed over it. A band-aid maybe? I don't know as it felt a little too big to be just a regular band-aid. In fact, I could already start to feel some of the already dulling pain to go away even more. Whatever it was, it was working quite well.

Not wanting to continue being semi-comatose any longer, I began to really focus on waking myself up. God, whoever knew that just the simple act of opening your eyes could be so difficult when you're in this kind of state? Eventually, my efforts were paying off as I could feel myself coming more and more out of it. Slowly, very slowly, I began to open up one eye, and then the other. My vision was very blurry, but I could still see things. It looked like I was in some concrete room, almost like a bunker. I think I was laying on a concrete bench or something that was coming out of the wall. There was a light coming from somewhere, but I couldn't see where it was. As I woke up even more, I was able to move my right hand up and touch my forehead. I definitely could feel something on it, maybe the patch that I felt being put on it earlier. I also noticed that my head was still a little tender to the touch although the overall pain was greatly reduced.

"Nice to know that you're finally up."

A sudden voice startled me for a second. It was the woman's voice that I've heard earlier. It came from my left. Turning my head in that direction and feeling the tendons in my neck creaking in the process, I could barely make out a figure sitting in a chair with her back toward me. It looked like she was sitting in front of a computer. My vision was starting to clear at that moment, and I could see a lot better. I could see that she had very long raven hair that was tied back in a very loose ponytail. I could also see that she was wearing a black super suit almost like mine except that it had streaks of purple mixed into it. That was all I could see from that position, but I felt that I recognized that hair.

"You suffered a nasty gash and a mild concussion," she told me with her back still to me. "You've been out for just over an hour. I was able to treat your wound the best that I could, and your body's doing the rest. It's a good thing that our bodies have a faster than normal healing rate. Still, your head's going to be tender for at least a few days so don't get hit on it again."

"Thanks," I croaked out. It was kind of hard to talk when my mouth and tongue felt like the Sahara.

I was about to ask her who she really was when she turned around in her chair and then stood up. She was tall, very tall. I saw more of her suit, mostly black with purple lines streaked across some parts of it. She had on purple gloves and boots with a purple belt around her waist. She wore a black and purple mask that covered a good deal of her face. Finally, a portion of her hair covered a part of the right side of her face. I didn't recognize the suit, but I think that it was her hair style that I immediately knew who she was. For a few moments I thought that I was still unconscious somewhere. That was how much I couldn't believe what I was seeing. No way could it be her! But the more I looked, the more that I couldn't deny the identity of the person that was standing in front of me.

It was Ultraviolet, one of the Incredibles.

She looked down at me and crossed her arms. "Now that you're up," she said in clearly a not-very-happy tone, "you can finally tell me just what the hell you were thinking doing something like that. You are damned lucky to still be alive, you know that? I hope that you have a good explanation for that little stunt."

I heard everything that she said, but I couldn't answer her yet. I was still very much in shock. The mysterious woman was Ultraviolet all along. This was all just too much to comprehend. In the space of less than two days, I have met my two favorite childhood idols, one of them being my own mother. I have to confess that before all this began I always thought that I would never meet either one of them at all, let alone in this fashion. Also, the fact that I now knew that someone as famous as Ultraviolet, her normal identity anyway, was working at the same company as my dad was amazing. It was very strange seeing her in that new black and purple suit. I was so used to seeing her in the famous red, yellow, and black Incredibles suit that she wore for fifteen years. I really liked her new look. It was very stylish and it seemed to suit her well. There was probably a reason behind that, though. In the last five or so years that the Incredibles fought as a family, there were some…issues going on. I wouldn't go as far as calling it a falling out, but there was definitely some friction going on between the Incredibles, mainly between Ultraviolet and the rest of the family. There was a lot of speculation on that, but no real answers. A lot of people just chalked it up to family issues. So maybe this new look of hers was a result of that and a way to break away from those last few turbulent years.

"It…it's you," I whispered.

"Yes, it's me," she said in that same voice. "That still didn't answer my question."

I hesitated for a while before I asked, "Okay, but can you answer a question for me first?"

She frowned a little, but said, "Alright, what?"

"Do you have any water?"

I saw a look of confusion pass across her face. "Water? Yeah, sure." She walked over to where she was sitting and picked up a bottle of water. She came back and handed it to me. "Here you go."

I raised the bottle of water to my mouth and downed the whole thing in seconds. It was warm, but I didn't care. In fact, I could've used maybe two or three more when I was finished with that one. It did quench most of my thirst, though.

"Thanks," I told her. "That's much better."

"No problem," she said. "Now do you think you can tell me what went on in your head when you did something that crazy and why you even decided to come up here in the first place, for that matter?"

Wow, she seemed very upset with me. I guess in a way I couldn't really blame her. I suppose that I shouldn't keep her waiting. "I felt like I had no other choice," I told her, my voice noticeably wavering. "I heard that my mother had been captured. Do you know if she's alright?"

"I should've known that you would've found out about that relatively quickly," Ultraviolet muttered. "Probably from Edna, no doubt. That lady could never keep her damn mouth shut about anything. Me and her are going to need to have a serious talk about _favors _later on." She sighed. "Your mother's fine for now, and she's somewhere in that place. That's all I know. Anyway, do you have any idea what you've just gotten yourself and your two friends into?"

"Leon and Chance?" I asked. "You found them? Are they okay?"

"They're fine," she told me. "And no, I didn't find them. They found me. I was carrying you to this bunker when they tried to attack me. They thought that I was a bad guy that captured you and was taking you away. Didn't even get ten feet from me before I put a field around them. The main thing about sneaking up on a person is keeping quiet, and they flunked badly. I heard them long before they appeared. Once they got over their embarrassment and shock, they helped me carry you here."

"Where are they now?"

"Just outside the bunker keeping watch. They were really concerned for you but I told them that they weren't helping matters by hovering over you."

"Where exactly are we?" I asked her, looking around some more.

"This is an old abandoned military bunker used to observe weapons testing back in the late forties and early fifties," she said. "It's in the hillside about two miles from the facility. I've been using it as my hideout to observe the facility and gather information. It's a long way from where I found you so we should be safe for now."

"Thank you," I said.

"I don't think that you should be thanking me," she said, crossing her arms again and her voice returning to that upset tone. "You know, I'm really trying to understand what you were doing or what you think you were trying to do. I told you not to get physically involved in this, and now you see the reason why. You were lucky against that Specter, but that was only one. There are more where it came from."

"Specter?" I asked. "What's that?"

"The saucer that you went up against," she explained. "It's a prototype Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle, UCAV, developed for the military. It's been heavily modified, though, and is far more dangerous than it was ever intended to be. And that's not all. There are bigger and more lethal machines in that place. Add to that a small force of highly trained mercenaries and you have quite the party."

_More _of those machines? Bigger and more lethal? A small mercenary force? What was happening there?

"I don't understand," I said. "What's going on?"

"Harriman and a few others seized control of the facility yesterday morning," Ultraviolet explained. "Forty employees, including your father and the vice president of the company, Devin Woods, are being held hostage. They're being forced to finish work on at least four missiles that would be able to carry and disperse the nanobots over a wide area. That work is almost finished if not already, and there's only a limited amount of time to stop them from being launched at Metroville."

"How much time?" I asked.

"That much time," she answered, pointing to the laptop computer that she was working at earlier.

I looked at the computer. The screen had a timer on it that was counting down. I didn't even notice it before. It read, **_LAUNCH TIME: 2 HOURS 45 MINUTES 22 SECONDS_**.

"Five a.m. on the dot," she said. "Not one second later. At that time, the missiles will be fired on the city. It would almost be too late to stop them then. They'd be over the city in less than three minutes. And that's only the beginning."

"Only the beginning?" God, how much more was there to this?

"The Specters and the other machines that I've mentioned are being readied to destroy what's left of the city once the nanobots are through. Pretty much a follow up operation. As for the mercenaries, I suspect they're just there to protect the facility. There are about a hundred or so of them, and they're all wearing that special ATI body armor and carrying experimental weapons."

"And no one outside the area knows about this? The police? The government? Other supers?" I couldn't believe that no one other than us knew about this whole thing.

"He was able to disguise it well," she said. "I don't know how he did it, but somehow he took over the place and no one outside this area knows about it. Metroville won't know what hit it. As far as I know, I'm the only super that actually works for the company, so the only ones that know are me, you three, and now your mother."

"Why is that guy doing this?" I asked softly. "Do you know why he wants to destroy Metroville?"

"I still don't have the answer to that," she replied. "It really doesn't make any sense at all. No motive, no plot, no ransom, just…nothing."

"He has to be doing this for a reason," I said.

"You think I don't know that?" she said in a kind of forceful voice that threw me back a little. "Of course he has to be doing this for a reason. There's always something behind this kind of stuff. You don't wake up one morning and say, _'Gee, what a nice day. I think I'll destroy a major city just for the hell of it.' _I just can't find that reason, and believe me, I tried damn hard."

She seemed very frustrated when she said that. I probably would be as well if I knew so much about something except the real reason behind it. The fact that Ultraviolet, one of the greatest supers ever, didn't have a clue about the motive of this latest assault on Metroville really scared me.

She seemed to collect herself for a moment, then said, "Okay, we're cutting it a little close with the time, so I'll tell you the same things that I already told Chance and Leon. You obviously came all the way here to rescue your parents, and in a way I respect that. I do sympathize with you that they're in this situation. However, going there and getting yourself killed in the process will not save them. And add to that you didn't seem to have a good plan to begin with. It was doomed to fail from the beginning." She sighed deeply and continued. "Alright, here's the deal. I could say that you can't come with me and go back home, but I'm not. I have a feeling you wouldn't listen to me, not to mention the car that you came up here in is now a twisted molten mass of metal on the road, so you're pretty much stuck up here anyway. I could also say that you should stay here in this bunker until it's over, but I'm not going to say that, either. Here's what I am going to say, though. You can come if you want to. I would advise against it because of your head injury, but the decision is yours. But if you do come, then you're going to have to follow my lead and do exactly as I tell you. Are we clear on that?"

"Yes," I told her and had already made up my mind long before she told me that. "I want to go."

Ultraviolet nodded her head. "Okay, then. Here, come over to the computer. I want to show you something."

I slowly sat up and then tried to stand up. I think I may have tried that just a little too fast, because the moment I got to my feet, my head started to swim, and I started to fall on my knees. Ultraviolet caught me quickly before I did.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" she asked me. "You're not fully healed yet."

"I'll be fine," I told her.

She looked at me for a few moments longer. I don't think that she believed me, and to be honest, _I_ didn't even believe me. A concussion, even a mild one, was a very serious thing. I had doubts if I could even make it to the facility without getting dizzy, let alone fighting inside it. I knew that I couldn't take another blow to the head like that, actually I couldn't take another hit at all, but I also knew that I had to be a part of this. Ultraviolet finally nodded again and helped me over to the computer. She then sat down and typed a few keys. The screen changed from the counter to what looked like a blueprint of the ATI Testing Facility.

"Here's the plan," she said. "Obviously we can't go crashing through the front gate. They got the entire complex well guarded and have an established perimeter. That's why you got attacked out there on the road. So basically, there's no way to get to the facility without them knowing about it."

"So then how do we get in?" I asked.

"This way." She hit another key and the blueprint shifted to an underground view. There was a long thin blue line that came from the bottom of the screen and led straight to the facility. "That's the main utility tunnel," she explained. "It runs all the way from Metroville to the testing facility. It supplies the place with water, power, and gas. It's small, but more than big enough for a normal sized person to walk through. There are access points to the tunnel every half mile. We could use the tunnel as a way to sneak right into the center of the complex."

"Are you sure they won't have that guarded as well?" I asked her.

"There's no way to know for sure," she told me. "They might, they might not. But even if it is guarded, there wouldn't be near as many people or machines there than inside the complex. It shouldn't be a major problem dealing with them."

I looked at the screen more closely. "I was just thinking," I said. "You said that line supplies power to the place. Couldn't we use the line to shut off the power and prevent them from launching the missiles?"

"That was almost exactly the same question that Chance asked," she replied. "It would seem obvious to do that, and it would probably work if it was like any other place. Unfortunately, the complex has four auxiliary generators that kick on if the main power goes out. They would then know that someone's in the tunnel and our element of surprise would be lost. So it would be best to just use the tunnel to get there and worry about the missiles once we're inside."

"Do you know exactly where the missiles are inside the place?" I asked.

She typed a few more keys and the blueprint of the facility came back up on the screen. Four flashing red points appeared at separate spots inside the place. "That's where I'm guessing the missiles are at," she said. "That's where the evidence points. As you can see, they're kept separate from each other. A very clever idea. Less of a chance for them to be sabotaged or destroyed all at once. You can also see that they're all pretty far away from the end of the utility tunnel so we'll have our work cut out for us just getting to them, let alone destroying them."

"Would you have a guess on where my mom and dad would be inside the complex?"

"No clue whatsoever," she replied. "If I had to take a guess, I would say that your dad is being forced to work on one of the four missiles. As for your mom, there's no way of knowing. We'd have to get inside to know for sure."

According to the blueprints, there had to be at least a dozen or so separate buildings in the entire complex with lots of rooms big and small and both above and below ground. Even among the four of us we would probably have trouble finding my mother before the little more than two and a half hours that we had were up, although Ultraviolet's knowledge of the place considerably bettered our chances.

"Is there anything else that I should know about?" I asked her. "Maybe some more info on those machines that we might be facing or something?"

Once again she typed a few keys and ten different pictures of machines appeared on the screen. Three of them were highlighted in red, and one of them was the flying saucer thing, the Specter as she called it. The other two red ones I didn't recognize. One of them looked like two light bulbs joined together at their ends with two propellers in between, and the other looked like a miniature tank. I also didn't recognize the other seven that weren't highlighted.

"Here they are," she said. "The red ones are the machines that I know are there, and the others are ones that I don't know are there or shouldn't worry about. You already had a close encounter with the Specter." She pointed to the light bulb thing. "This is known as the Hummingbird. Yeah, I know it doesn't look like one and I don't know why they called it that. Anyway, it was designed for close quarter combat in urban areas and places just like the ATI Testing Facility. Those are the things that we should be worried about the most since they can travel down hallways and into rooms." She then pointed to the mini tank. "This is called the Tracker. It's pretty much what it looks like, a mini robot tank. They're also designed for urban combat. They're also not as capable as the Hummingbirds, but they have the most firepower out of the three, so don't get caught in its sights. Just like the Specter, they've all been heavily modified. As for the other seven, just because I suspect that they aren't there doesn't mean that we shouldn't worry about them."

"What's that one right there?" I asked, pointing to the last one.

She brought it up on screen. It looked the most human, if you could say that about a machine. It had two legs, two arms, and a head, and that's where all the similarities stopped. The thing was massive, bulky, and imposing. It looked like it could kill you just by gazing at you. Everything about it just screamed death and destruction. Something that you most definitely didn't want to meet in a dark alley, actually something you didn't want to meet _anywhere. _It was making me a little scared just looking at it.

"It's known as the Devastator," she said. "It's a prototype cybernetic soldier for the military. It's something that we shouldn't worry about. It won't be finished for months."

"Are you sure?" That was something that I didn't want to surprise us inside the facility.

"Very sure," she replied. "I should know. I helped design some of the systems for it."

I was shocked by that admission. "You helped design that thing?"

"That and most of the other ones," she replied. "They weren't supposed to be used like this, though. Some of those machines were designed for a completely different purpose." She then closed the computer. "Okay, we're really wasting time. We need to leave now if we're going to stop those missiles from launching. I'd like to check your head one last time before we leave. I wouldn't like for you to faint again on me or anything. Sit back down on the bench for a moment."

I did as she asked and sat back down on the bench that I was laying unconscious on just a few minutes earlier. She picked up a strange looking cylinder shaped device and came over to me. She reached up and carefully pulled off the patch on my head. She then held up the device to my face and turned it on. A blue beam came from the top of it and onto my forehead. She started moving it back and forth.

"What's that?" I asked.

"It's something to see how much your wound's healed," she answered.

I took that time to ask her a question. "Can you tell me what were you really doing at my house and why you blindfolded me?"

She stopped running the device across my head and looked at me for a moment. She then finally said, "Alright. I heard that the people that are holding the employees hostage were possibly going to hold their families hostage as well to make sure that they comply. Both you and your mother were high on the list. I went to all of those houses to see if that was true or not. I don't think that it was. I was at your house for a few minutes and was just starting to leave when you came outside. I then figured that I would ask you questions to see what you knew so far. I blindfolded you because in the case that the rumor was true, they would also ask questions and see what you knew. I couldn't take the chance of letting you see me because they already suspect that someone in the company had been doing too much snooping around. If it was true and they did come, they could extract information from you and find out that I had been there, and they could use that to find out who I was. That's why I blindfolded you."

I then asked another question. "Did you know that the facility was taken over and my dad taken hostage before you spoke to me? Did you lie to me?"

"I wouldn't put it in that strong a term," Ultraviolet told me. "I had to say that so you wouldn't get involved. I knew how dangerous the whole thing was and you didn't. Simple as that. I know that you're probably upset with me over that and I wouldn't blame you. You'll just have to trust me for the rest of this mission. Now hold still while I finish this."

I was a little upset that she had lied to me about my dad, but I could also understand why she said that. I probably might've said the same thing if I was in her position. She finished using the device and placed the patch back on my forehead.

"It's healing at a good rate," she told me. "It won't be fully healed for a couple more days, though. I'll ask you one last time if you think you can do this without hurting your head again."

"I can do this," I told her.

"Okay. I'll hold you to that, you know. Come on, let's go."

I stood up slowly to avoid another dizzy spell and together we left the bunker. Once outside, I looked around to see where we were. We were still somewhere in the wooded hills. I could see the lights of the complex through the trees although they were far away. I also looked around to see where Chameleon and Changeling were. A moment later Chameleon appeared to our left and an owl flew toward the ground and landed in front of us. It slowly transformed into Changeling.

"Nice to see you back among the conscious," Chameleon said. "You had us worried there for a while

"I'm fine now," I told him.

"That's good to hear," Changeling said. "So I guess that you met our mysterious woman. Did she fill you in on what's going on and what we plan to do?"

"Yes," I said.

"I'm actually surprised you want to still do this with a concussion," Chameleon told me. "I don't know if I'd be able to do that. You're really tough."

"It's her choice," Ultraviolet said. "Come on, let's go. The nearest entry point to the tunnel is about a mile away."

I had doubts before we started that we would actually be able to succeed in this. I still do, but now that Ultraviolet was with us, our chances had gone way up. It didn't make me feel much better, though. It just seemed so big, so impossible, but we had no choice. It looked like it was up to the four of us to save Metroville from total destruction, and we had two and a half hours to do it. I hope that my injured head could hold up to it.


	17. Infiltration

_Author's note: Wow, 100,000 words. This story's getting pretty big, and it still has a ways to go before the end. I have more to say at the end, so that's all I'm going to say here._

**Chapter 17**

I don't know if this is the same for everyone else, but for me there are a few times when I notice a lot of subtle things about the environment around me. This was one of those times. I was noticing how warm the late summer night air felt, how nice the air smelled here in the woods, how the light breeze rustled the leaves in the trees around us, how calming the chirping of the crickets was, how crisp the crunching of the leaves and twigs under our four pairs of feet sounded, and how pretty the night sky was, and yes, I was sane at that time. It could've been anything from my heightened super senses to the fact that we were entering a dangerous situation and I might not see or experience these things again. I tried my best not to think like that, but I couldn't help it. I could probably come up with a half dozen conflicting reasons for that, but the main reason by far was because of the already mentioned inexperience factor. Ultraviolet's experience probably could've deluded that some, but there were still the three of us that were very much green. It was hard not to think about all that could happen to us inside that place. I couldn't help but be frightened over that. I am sad to say that I even had a little doubt about how my abilities could help in this. I know that it's very dangerous for a super to doubt their abilities, but that was how I felt. Surprisingly, though, I still had the same amount of confidence from the fight with the Specter. Of course, confidence does not automatically mean victory, but it was all that I had at that moment. I knew that I would probably need more than that, though. Ultraviolet was right when she said that I was very lucky when I went up against the Specter. It was only one. But what if it had been two craft or ten? How would I have fared then? I didn't even want to think about the odds of me coming out of that fight alive.

Instead, I found myself thinking about what exactly were my three super companions thinking about themselves right then. Were they thinking about our upcoming infiltration of the ATI Testing Facility? Were they scared? Were they as unsure of themselves as I felt about myself? But at the same time, did they have the same feeling of confidence that I felt as well? I was sure that Chameleon and Changeling were thinking about most of those things, but what about Ultraviolet? What exactly was she thinking about? How did she every time she put on her super suit and fought against crime and evil? I'm sure that she had to have gotten a little scared a few of those times. I was actually interested in what happened twenty years ago when she became a real superhero. She was a teen herself at that time, probably about the same age as the three of us, when the fight against Syndrome happened. What went through her mind then? Was she feeling the same way as I felt? Was she as doubtful and unsure of her abilities? Of course, the only way to know that for sure was to ask her about it, but I was actually kind of hesitant in doing that. I don't know why. I wasn't expecting her to bite my head off or something, and now seemed as perfect a time as ever to ask her a question like that. I guess that it boiled down to nervousness and so I ended up keeping my mouth shut.

Chameleon didn't hesitate to ask her a question of his own, however. Quite a while into our long quiet walk, he finally broke the silence by asking, "So how's it been with you?"

Ultraviolet turned to look at him. "What do you mean?" she asked back.

"Well, just exactly that," he said. "It's been a while since we last saw you in action. What's been going on during the last five years? Hanging out with family and friends? Partying at super reunions? Getting your hands dirty in the sludge that is the corporate world, what?"

"Do you really want to know things like that?"

"Yeah. You seem to know a lot about us. Why not share a little bit of your life story. C'mon, it's only fair, you know."

She looked at him for a few moments, then she shook her head and a small smile formed on her lips. "You are very strange, you know that?" She then sighed. "Okay, I'll give you a few insights into my life, but just a little. I don't want to reveal everything about myself. Well, nothing major had happened during the last five years. My career at ATI has kept me very busy over that time. I don't have much contact with my family because of that. It doesn't matter all that much, anyway. My mother and father are living the sweet retired life. Dash is happily living with his wife and kids down in Texas. Jackall is now a junior in college. Basically we just went our separate ways and have lives of our own now. We still get together for holidays, but that's really the only time that we're together as a family nowadays. My business career had also started interfering with my super career as well. It got to the point where I couldn't balance the two anymore and had to pick one or the other. The choice was very obvious, and so I hung up my super suit and dove into my work at the company. It wasn't an official retirement and I could become Ultraviolet again if absolutely necessary, but I just didn't see the need for me to continue doing that constantly anymore. Besides, until today there hadn't been a major plot against Metroville in ten years. Anything that happened during that time, other supers and even the police could handle it just fine without us. The Incredibles couldn't do _everything_ for this city, you know. So, that's pretty much my life story for the last five years and why you haven't seen us during that time."

"So you're saying that you're the only active Incredible in Metroville right now," Chameleon said.

"That's basically it," Ultraviolet told him.

"I guess that means that you can't call for backup from any of your family members in case something happens later on."

She gave him a strange look. "Why do you say that?"

"I don't know," he replied. "I guess, um, I mean…"

"You think that I'm incapable of handling this on my own, is that it?"

He seemed to shrink a little. "No, I didn't mean it like that at all. I mean, I guess, uh…"

Ultraviolet looked very annoyed with him at that moment. "Just so you know," she said in a very low and almost very scary tone of voice, "I have done missions by myself before you were even born, and I do have fifteen years of experience as a superhero. In fact, before you three came along I was planning to go solo on this. So I think that makes me very capable of doing things on my own and without any help from the rest of my family. Is that answer clear enough for you?"

Chameleon only nodded his head this time. He didn't even make eye contact with her.

"Good, remember that." She then turned back around.

Wow, I wasn't expecting a response like that from her, and apparently neither was he. The poor guy's face was clearly red with embarrassment despite the low light. I felt sorry for him right them. I really didn't think that he was questioning her ability to handle situations by herself, but somehow it came out like that to her and she seemed to take great offense to that. I wondered if it was the friction between her and the rest of her family that was the cause of that outburst. It was hard to tell, but I did notice at least one thing. As I was very observant, I already picked up several vibes about her overall attitude in the very short time that we were together. I wouldn't say that she had an outright cold personality, but it was definitely on the coolish side. Funny because I really don't remember hearing about that. Then again, I was never around her until this moment. I suppose that it again came back to family issues.

We walked for a while under total silence. I guess that the three of us were a little nervous about talking to Ultraviolet again after her outburst. It didn't last long though as the woods started to thin out and then we were standing in front of a tiny concrete structure surrounded by a fence that was topped with razor wire. It was about the size of a small shed. On the door, there was a sign that read, **_DANGER: HIGH VOLTAGE-NATURAL GAS LINE: KEEP OUT_**.

"Here it is," Ultraviolet said. "The entrance to the utility tunnel."

"At least it's not guarded," Chameleon said.

"Up here, that's true," she said. "Down in the tunnel or at the end, who knows?"

"Well, you did say that anyone or anything guarding the tunnel would be minimal. There are four of us and we are all supers. What's the absolute worst they could…"

He was interrupted when Ultraviolet quickly clamped her hand over his mouth. "If you want to live through this," she told him, "you will **_not _**finish that sentence, understand?"

He nodded quickly and she removed her hand. She then looked at the two of us and said, "I heard that saying way too many times and things always seemed to happen afterwards. I don't want to have it spoiled this time."

"Are you superstitious?" Changeling asked her.

"No, I'm not," she said. "I don't believe in superstition."

She moved to the gate of the fence. It was locked with a giant padlock. She reached down and held it in her hand.

"I take it that you don't have a key to open that," Chameleon said.

"No key, I'm afraid," she said.

"Then how are we supposed to get in?" Changeling asked.

"I could blast through it," I suggested.

Ultraviolet shook her head. "Too dangerous," she said. "You could ignite the gas. I have a better idea. Stand back."

The three of us looked at each other for a moment and then stepped back from her like she asked. I wasn't sure what she was about to do, but she quickly showed us. She held out her right hand toward the building and then projected a force field in that direction. It was very different from her normal fields as it was completely focused in one direction and moved with amazing speed, blasting right through the fence and the door of the building with ease. I never saw her do anything like that before.

"What was that?" Chameleon asked her.

"I call it a force wave," she said. "It's really nothing more than a focused force field, but Dash suggested that I come up with a real fancy name for it."

We moved through the hole in the fence and to the hole in the building. Looking down, I saw a small metal ladder that led down to the dimly lit tunnel about twenty or so feet below us. I didn't see anyone or anything down there that could pose a threat to us, but that didn't mean that they weren't down there.

"I'll go down first," Ultraviolet said. "You guys follow behind me."

"And now we cross the Rubicon," Changeling said. "The die is cast."

"What?" I asked him in confusion. "What does that mean?"

"You never heard that expression?" he said to me. "It means that there's no turning back and we're totally committed now."

Chameleon chuckled. "In case you haven't noticed," he told his brother, "we crossed the Rubicon the moment my car was destroyed. I think that it's a little too late for us to turn back now."

"That's good to hear," Ultraviolet said. "Now let's get going."

She went to the ladder and started to climb down it. When she was down in the tunnel, Chameleon was next to go, followed by his brother Changeling. I hesitated for a moment and then followed the others down the ladder. I immediately noticed how warm the air coming from the tunnel was. It wasn't terrible, but it would probably start to feel uncomfortable if we were going to be in the tunnel for a while. When I reached the bottom, I looked down both ends of the tunnel. It was lit up with tiny lights on the wall and there was a small hum coming from somewhere. The tunnel was dark gray in color with a partly grated floor. There were four pipes that ran along the ceiling. There was a yellow and black line that was painted along the wall. It had words on it that read, **_ATI MAIN UTILITY TUNNEL: WESTERN ENERGY CORPORATION: ACCESS POINT 64. _**Ultraviolet was right when she said that the tunnel was small. It was maybe seven feet tall and just barely wide enough for two people to walk side by side. It was a great thing that I wasn't claustrophobic. The tunnel just seemed to go on forever in both directions.

"How long is this tunnel?" Changeling asked, his voice echoing through the tunnel.

"About thirty five miles," Ultraviolet replied. "From here it's about a mile and a half to the facility."

"Oh, man," Chameleon groaned. "We just walked a mile over uneven ground to get here. I'm gonna be tired by the time we get to the place."

"Hey, you know what they say," Changeling told him. "No pain, no gain."

"I already have enough pain for one night, thank you very much," I said.

"Believe me, a mild concussion is nothing," Ultraviolet said. "You'll get hurt far worse if you continue being a superhero."

"Great, thanks for telling us that little bit of info," Chameleon muttered.

"Hey, sometimes the truth really does hurt," she told him. "Alright, let's move."

We started walking, our footsteps echoing off the metal grated floor. I was starting to get worried that someone would hear them, but I don't think that there was anything that we could do about it.

We had only walked for a minute before Changeling asked, "What are those pipes on the ceiling?"

"The two on the left are the water pipes," Ultraviolet said. "The ones on the right are for the natural gas. The power lines run below the floor."

"Whoa," Chameleon said. "Jess, do us all a favor. Don't shoot any fire in here."

"I'll try," I said. "No promises, though."

"So Ultraviolet," Changeling said, trying to start a casual conversation. "How long have you worked at ATI?"

She was silent for a moment and I thought that she wasn't going to answer, but she said, "Twelve years. I was hired right out of college. Back then, ATI wasn't even a quarter of the size that it is now. I didn't think that it would last five years since it was so small and there were much larger companies that were threatening to buy us out. Not only was I proven wrong at the end of those five years but we were the ones that bought out those companies, hence the powerhouse that ATI is now."

"What is it that you do there?" he asked.

"I would prefer not to say right now," she replied. "Maybe later. Let's just say that I've come quite a way since my first day there."

"And during all that time you never once suspected that the things you were working on could be used in this way?" I asked.

"I knew that a few of those things were dangerous," she replied. "Some of them were designed to be used by the military, after all. But most of them were designed with completely different purposes in mind. I've already said that the nanobots were never intended to be used as a weapon, but they were easily turned into one with just a little bit of reprogramming. Even the lasers used were intended for something totally different. They're called sonic pulse lasers, and they were created as an alternative for drilling through solid rock."

"I've heard about those in Popular Science," Changeling said. "It's supposed to be the future of drilling."

"It has its pros and cons for the moment," she continued. "The main pros are that it can go through rock a lot faster and deeper than a normal drill bit and you don't have to worry about breaking one in the process. The huge cons are that it's a great deal more expensive to buy and operate than a regular drill and that it's very power intensive."

"So how did it turn into a weapon?"

"I was getting to that. I found out very recently that at just the right frequency the sonic pulses in the laser can shatter the crystalline structure of the nanotube fibers in our super suits and then the laser itself can burn right through it. Someone else found out about that a lot quicker than I did, though, and that's very disturbing. Nanotube fabric is a very top secret material and only a very few people know about it and its main use. Someone knew what the laser could do to nanotube fabric and modified it for use against supers."

"So instead of drilling through rock, it now drills through supers," Chameleon muttered. "That makes me feel a lot better."

"Tell me about it," I agreed, adding even more to my uneasy feeling about this. "So much for adding laserproof to the list."

"What list?" Ultraviolet asked me.

"The things that Edna said about these suits," I told her. "She said that they were…"

"Bulletproof, fireproof, waterproof, and stainproof," she finished, surprising me. "Not to mention they breathe excellent, right? She said the exact same thing to me when I got this suit, even though I already knew the properties of nanotube fabric. I had a big hand in making it, after all."

"I meant to ask earlier, what's up with that new look of yours?" Chameleon asked.

"It's a long story, and one that I'm not about to get into," she answered. "But to answer your previous question, technically, these suits are laserproof also, but unfortunately they're not sonic-pulse-laserproof. There are bright spots if you can call them that, though. The same crystalline structure that would shatter from the impact also absorbs and refract away part of the energy of the laser, so you won't have the full effect of it actually hitting you. Also, the lasers used in the Specters and the like are far less powerful than the full size model. The full beam would actually vaporize you along with your suit. That's not to say that the smaller ones aren't lethal themselves, but at least you have a chance of surviving a hit from one. I still wouldn't recommend getting hit by one in the first place, though."

"Do you have any idea who the person that probably modified the weapon could be?" Changeling asked.

"Not a clue," she replied. "As I said, there are only a few people to my knowledge that knows the secret of the fabric, and all of them wouldn't do something like turn those things into weapons that can be used against us. I'm almost positive of that. You can never be completely positive in these types of things, but I've worked with most of those people the entire time I was there, and I just can't see them doing it. There would be no reason for them to."

"So you think that it might be someone other than those few people?" I asked.

"It has to be," she said. "And that's a huge problem. It could be anybody that works at ATI. We're talking fifteen thousand people from corporate to military and commercial systems to R&D. Not to mention there's a chance that it might be someone from outside the company. I doubt it, but you have to keep all possibilities open. Whatever it is, I have a feeling that all our answers are inside the facility." She sighed and shook her head. "I swear, this just has to be the strangest, most baffling mission that I've ever been on, and believe me, that's saying a lot."

"I bet," Chameleon said. He then said, "Do you think we could talk about something brighter now? All this talk about doom and gloom is getting on my nerves. I would actually like to feel a little better before we get to the place."

"I suppose we could," Ultraviolet said. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Well…let's talk about you some more."

She looked at him in surprise. "Again? I've already told you a part of my life story. What more about me do you want to hear? You know, there are things that I don't want to say since they're a little too personal."

"You seem to be an interesting person, not to mention being a famous one on top of that. I think that it'd be neat to hear some of your adventures from your perspective."

"There isn't really much more I could add to those," she told him. "Everything you read about them is pretty much how it happened."

"Can you tell us about your brother Dash?" Changeling asked. "Mainly why did he move to Texas in the first place?"

"Mainly because of the weather and a job with a six figure salary," she said. "I don't know why. I could never stand the weather there. He does have a wife, a boy, and twin girls to take care of, so I guess you have to go where the jobs and money are."

"Does he still do super work there?"

"He hasn't for a while. He maybe did it once or twice since we split. He doesn't really have the time for it, jugging between his career and his family. Hell, I said earlier that I had a hard time doing it, and I'm a single person. That's how big my career at ATI really is. I remember about a year or so ago when he told me that he knew how our dad must've felt about the three of us. Can't really say that I feel sorry for him, though. I mean, I'm happy for him and his family, but there are also the consequences that come along with it."

"Interesting," Chameleon said. "It's also interesting that you're still single. I never would've guessed that. You're saying that you never found someone yourself?"

"That's crossing that little line that I mentioned was personal and things that I don't want to talk about."

"I know, but I'm really curious about that. I mean, you really can't blame me for that, and…"

Ultraviolet suddenly whirled around and glared at him. "Look," she told him fiercely, "if it will silence your curiosity and your mouth, then I'll just go ahead and say yes, there was someone in my life a while ago, and that's all I'm going to say about that. So don't even think of bothering me with that question again, got it? That goes for the two of you, also."

Man, if I wasn't shocked from her earlier outburst, I definitely was with this one. My eyes widened and my mouth dropped. I didn't know how the two boys felt right then, but I was willing to bet that they were as stunned as I was. What was up with her? I mean, sure she didn't want to tell us about that part of her life, but God, she didn't have to tear his head off with that kind of answer. She wasn't always like this, was she? Because if it was, then it was going to be difficult to work with her. She seemed to realize what she just did, because she immediately shook her head and sighed deeply.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to blow up on you like that. Things have been really stressful for me these past couple of weeks, and not just because of this situation. I'll try not to go off on you again, but no guarantees, especially by the way that I'm feeling right now. I did mean some of the things that I said, though. There are things about me that I wouldn't even tell my own family about, and your questions were getting pretty close to them. I'm sure you three have secrets that you don't want to talk about and probably wouldn't like it if someone was bugging you to tell them. So let's agree not to tread on that ground again, okay?" She then added after a moment, "One last thing. You three are probably intimidated by me, and that's understandable. I tend to intimidate a lot of people. But I don't want you to feel like you have to walk on pins and needles around me. We need to trust each other fully. One lapse in judgment and concentration and we could all die. You're probably thinking that it's weird for someone like me saying that, but I cannot stress enough how serious that is. Supers have died because they had underestimated the situation they were in. You have to treat every situation as a matter of life or death, no matter how small and insignificant it seems to be. But anyway, I guess what I'm trying to say is that you shouldn't be afraid of me if we're going to work together, okay?" We all nodded and she smiled a little. "Good. Okay, we're getting close to the end of the tunnel. We have to be quiet from here on out. Be on your guard. An attack can come from anywhere, especially when you least expect it. Stay behind me and be ready to act if necessary, but try not to do anything stupid and suicidal."

As we began to move again, I began to think about her outburst and the reason behind it. I knew that it was none of my business, but as I previously mentioned, I was a very curious person and when something interesting enters my mind I couldn't help but think about it sometimes. Anyway, I had a strong feeling that her outburst was more the reason of her family problems than stress issues. She seemed very quick off the draw when Chameleon said that he was curious, and that really didn't seem like he was pushing her to tell. I say that because I was quick to snap at people as well because of my temper and can recognize things like that. It could've been stress, though. I didn't know what she went through the last few weeks, and I doubted that she was going to tell me. Despite what she said about not being afraid of her, I still thought that we would be walking on eggshells around her. You couldn't help but be intimidated by her. I also felt that we had to be careful what we say around her because one wrong word could send her into another outburst. Don't get me wrong, I was more than happy that Ultraviolet was with us, but it would be nice to work with her without the threat of her yelling at us again.

Ultraviolet was right when she said that we were approaching the end of the tunnel. It was still a long way off, but I could see some steps that led to a gray door. My nervousness was starting to peak. Usually, here was the point that supers would get ambushed. I carefully scanned the walls and ceiling for hidden cameras or ports where weapons could come flying out. I couldn't understand why they would put weapons in a utility tunnel, cameras definitely, but not weapons. It wouldn't really surprise me if they were there, though. I was actually more concerned about the soldiers. Who knew how many were waiting behind that door, ready to come flying out and shoot their weapons at us. We would be totally exposed as there was nothing to hide behind. I was thinking that Ultraviolet could put up one of her fields across the tunnel and protect us, but that could probably happen if she was really quick. Not to mention that the closer we got to the door, the less of the chance there was for any of us to react. It was probably a good sign that nothing was happening as we got closer to the door, but that didn't mean anything. For all I knew, they could've been waiting for us to closer so that they could get a clean shot at us. When we were practically right next to the steps and the door didn't open, I figured that they weren't there and I relaxed slightly, but I still never let down my guard. In fact, I don't think that I was ever more ready. I was actually shocked that we hadn't been challenged yet. You would really think that they would have had this tunnel guarded since it seemed so obvious that someone could use it to get in. I wasn't complaining. The less trouble, the better in my opinion. They probably did have it guarded on the other side, though. They couldn't be stupid to have it _completely _unguarded, could they?

"Stay here," Ultraviolet said quietly.

She slowly went up the steps and stopped just to the left of the door. She seemed to examine the door and the area around it very closely. I guess she was looking for alarms or hidden booby traps. After a moment of doing that, she then took something from her belt and then she seemed to be working on an object next to the door. I couldn't tell exactly what she was doing because of her angle to us, but she was probably working on some alarm device and trying to disable it. After working on that for a moment, she then got down on her knees and pulled another device from her belt. It looked like a tiny TV with a tiny tube attached to the side. She moved the tube under the door and then put an earpiece on. It was hard to see what she was doing this time, but I suspected that she was trying to see if anyone was behind the door.

"What are you doing?" Changeling asked her.

"Shhh!" she hushed him harshly. She went back to using the device, watching the screen and tapping buttons as well as listening through the earpiece. She looked like she was in full concentration mode as she did all that. After about a full minute of listening, she removed the earpiece and put the device back on her belt.

"Okay," she told us, "I didn't hear or see anyone inside, but that doesn't mean that they're in there. I'm going to open the door now. Be prepared for anything. Are you ready?"

I don't know if I could ever be fully ready for something like this, but I tried to ready myself the best that I could. I noticed that my hands were slightly raised. I still didn't know if I could ever bring myself to shoot fireballs at another person, but I guess I was about to find out. The three of us nodded.

"Okay, here we go."

She proceeded to work on the lock and then flung it open. We waited and listened carefully. All I could hear was the quiet humming of machinery. It was probably just loud enough to mask footsteps if there were any people inside. I didn't think there was anyone inside as they should've appeared the moment Ultraviolet opened that door, unless they really were waiting for a clear shot at us. God, all this second guessing was driving me insane! I was almost wishing that something would happen just to break the tension.

"Wait here," Ultraviolet told us. She then turned herself invisible and I heard her quiet footsteps go into the room.

"Man, I really wish I could turn myself completely invisible," Chameleon muttered.

"Well, you sort of could in a way," I said.

"It's not the same," he told me. "Remember, I'm not invisible at all. I just blend into the environment, pretty much hiding in plain sight. I can still be easily seen if not careful."

"Well, I guess you just have to work with what you got," Changeling said. "Anyway, you guys notice her overall change in behavior?"

"Don't remind me," his older brother moaned.

"I noticed that, too," I said. "I'm glad I'm not the only one."

"I wonder why that is," Changeling said. "We better not talk about that right now."

Ultraviolet was inside the room for at least a few minutes before she reappeared right in front of us. I knew that she was searching the room for people, but I still thought that it took just a little more time than it should have.

"It's safe," she said. "Come on."

The three of us followed her into the dimly lit room. It was big, at least three stories high, and seemed to be completely concrete. There were some running machines to our left and a small office to our left. There were huge metal beams and pipes on the ceiling. There was also a pair of doors that were just in front of us.

"Where are we?" Changeling asked.

"This is the main utility room," she replied. "We're a few stories underground." She pulled that mini TV thing for her belt again and turned it on.

"I've patched into the security network," she said. "I've also made it feedback into itself so it would hide us from the cameras. I don't know how long it'll work, though. They could catch on at anytime."

"You could do that?" Changeling asked in amazement. "How?"

"It's very complicated," she told him. "It's mainly a combination of skill and technology. Anyway, here's the plan. We could…"

That was as far as she got before we heard voices just outside the doors. It was two or more people, and it sounded like they were about to enter the room. We were still completely out in the open, and we had a second, maybe two, to react.

_Continued author's note: I had a helluva hard time trying to come up with a super name for Jack-Jack before settling on Jackall. I've heard two theories on his powers. One, he's literally a "Jack of all trades", hence the name Jackall. Two, all supers are born with multiple powers and it takes the body time to settle on a certain power. I decided on the former. So with that, stay tuned because the action's really about to heat up now._


	18. The Plan

_Author's note: Sorry it took so long to update, but I've been so busy lately that I again had to put the story on hold. But finally here's the next chapter and keep the reviews coming. Come on, I know there are people out there that's reading this and not reviewing. Don't be afraid._

**Chapter 18**

It's amazing when you sometimes have a sense of danger, one second can somehow feel like ten. I suppose that it was the adrenaline rush, or in this case, my own super senses, that was the cause. I still had yet to get used to them. I mean, having enhanced senses was probably a great thing, but it could be a little disorienting. For instance, my better hearing let me hear things that I probably never would've picked up normally. The men on the other side of the door, for example. It was also a reminder that we didn't have ten seconds to find a hiding place, maybe three if we were very lucky.

"Hide!" Ultraviolet whispered quickly.

My thoughts exactly. I scanned the area quickly but there really wasn't anything that I could hide behind that could provide significant cover. I then looked up at the beams high above me, and the decision was made, or once again, my body made the decision for me. I rocketed up toward one of the beams. That was by far the fastest I ever took off, but since I actually flew only two times before, there really wasn't much comparison. I was moving so fast that I probably had literally a second before I smashed into the ceiling at full force. At quite possibly the last moment, my right arm reached out and hooked the beam. It caused me to spin in the air for a moment and then I slammed down on the top of the beam very hard, jarring my insides and my already injured head. I had to shut my eyes from the brief surge of pain and the not so brief wave of nausea. Through all that I was actually amazed that I didn't tear my arm off with that kind of violent maneuver. My arm was hurting some, but it wasn't nearly as bad as my head at the moment.

My tiny and very crazy flight was just in time because I heard the doors open below me and then footsteps coming inside the room. It took a moment for me to open my eyes and even more to risk looking down. I almost wished that I didn't. My vision was slightly blurred and I was very dizzy from the impact, not to mention that I was feeling a very bad case of vertigo. It was worse than I felt during my first real flight a few hours earlier. It thought that it was kind of strange since then I was a few thousand feet up in the air and here I was maybe forty or so feet above the very hard looking floor. It was maybe because during my flight I was suspended in the air by my powers and here I was suspended by a metal beam probably just a little more than a foot across. That brought up another point. My body was wider than the beam and I had a hard time balancing on it because I was still so dizzy. I could've straddled it for better balance, but I couldn't do that because I was busy trying to keep the bright orange parts of my suit hidden from view. I had my arms folded up underneath my body covering both my gloves and my symbol and my legs crossed to hide the boots. Unfortunately there really wasn't anything that I could do to hide the belt. It was very dark up there near the ceiling but I wasn't willing to rely on that alone. Also, the effort to hide the bright parts of my suit was making it even more difficult to keep my balance. It wouldn't take all that much for me to easily slide off the edge of the beam.

My vision took some time to clear, but I could easily see the two men walking into the room. They were wearing the same suits as the guys at the mall. The only difference was that these guys were wearing these big helmets that covered their heads. They also were carrying these very strange looking weapons. In a way they looked like a normal gun, but they were a lot bigger and bulkier and had a futuristic look. I wondered if they were those laser weapons that Ultraviolet told us about in the tunnel. It was hard to tell but I doubted it. She never mentioned that they were handheld and were only mounted on a few machines. Still, I had no intention of getting myself shot by one to find out what they really were.

To my dismay and unfortunate luck, they stopped almost directly under me. I couldn't believe it. A whole open space around them and they stop almost exactly under the beam that I was hiding behind. It reminded me of those shows where people would hide and the guys chasing them would stop almost directly by the place they were hiding and search everywhere but that place. I hoped that I would have that kind of luck. It also made me realize just how exposed I was hiding on that beam. I already knew that I was in a very precarious position, but that just hammered it home. I tried even more to hide the orange parts of my suit as well as try to control my breathing and heartbeat. I knew that those last two were stupid and probably wouldn't make any difference whatsoever, but I was trying to remain unseen by whatever means that I could. I then remembered that I wasn't the only one in hiding. I couldn't see the other three supers anywhere, but that was expected. Ultraviolet and Chameleon could turn themselves invisible and Changeling could probably turn into a flea or something really tiny. Basically, when it came to hiding, I was the most visible out of the four of us, and that kind of made me a little angry. I actually cursed them inside my head for having better hiding abilities than myself.

"You know, this is really boring," one of the men said to his partner.

"No one said that this would be a cakewalk," the other guy told him.

"I know that. Wish we were getting paid more, though. You think he would for all the crap he's putting us through."

"Don't let him hear you say that."

"It's true, you know."

"Tell you what, if you're so unhappy, then you can march right up to him and say that, but since I doubt you have the guts to do that, just shut up and do your job."

I actually had to stifle a giggle because I found that little exchange to be somewhat comical. I wondered who was this 'he' they were talking about. Probably that guy Harriman. They finally moved from under my hiding spot to another part of the room where they wouldn't be able to see me. I let out the breath that I didn't even know I was holding. I knew that I wasn't out of danger yet, though. There was the chance that they could come back around and see me. In fact, they had to pass under me to leave the room. I took that time to slowly and carefully slide back on the beam toward the darker area behind me. It still didn't guarantee that they wouldn't be able to see me from that.

"You think it would really work?" the first guy asked from somewhere behind the office.

"Would what work?" the second guy asked him.

"Those nano…things they're working on."

"How the hell should I know? What do I look like, a scientist?"

"I was just wondering, that's all. It seems like they're far too small to destroy a city of millions."

"Look, I don't know much about the things they work on here or what they do. All I know is that we're getting paid to guard this place against possible intruders. So let's just concentrate on that and not worry about anything else."

"That makes me think, do you think that there will be more supers coming?"

"More than likely. It wouldn't take them long to find out that we captured Electricia. They'll be in for a great surprise, though."

What did they mean by a great surprise? I seriously doubted that it was for anybody's birthday. Did they use such a 'surprise' to capture my mother? I felt my anger starting to build that they had her here somewhere in the first place. I cooled it though as I knew that wasn't going to help anyone.

"Do you have a weird feeling?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know. It's that certain kind of feeling, you know. Like you're being watched or something."

Uh-oh. It looked like one of them was possibly sensing our presence. I'm sure that four pairs of hidden eyes watching your every move would make you feel something. I hoped that the other three were well hidden. A second later I thought of course they were and again I was the one that was the most exposed. And once again I complained inside my head about how it just wasn't fair.

"That's crazy."

"No, I'm not being crazy. I just have this strange feeling. I don't know what it is. It just feels like something's off."

The guy's partner sighed loudly. "Okay, fine. We'll search this place if it'll make you feel better."

Oh, man. That was not what I wanted to hear. It might make that guy feel better, but for me it would be a lot worse. I couldn't move any further back because there was a diagonal beam in the way behind me. I couldn't risk climbing or even flying around it. All I could really do was try to make myself as hidden as possible, although I already said before that it seemed to be an impossible thing to do. In the case they did look up and see me, then what? I was certain that the other three had my back, but in case they didn't, then I might not have a choice but to use my powers. Hopefully not my fire powers, but maybe my flight powers to get away quickly.

Before they could really get started, though, I heard a beeping noise and then a slightly static filled voice over a radio. _"TCHHH…Gilwood, Henderson, what's your location."_

"Main Utility Room," one of the men replied.

"_You're needed over at Warehouse Four. We're picking up a slightly strange reading. It's probably nothing, but investigate anyway and report back immediately."_

"10-4."

The two men came back into view and headed out the doors. However, one stayed back for a moment and looked around the room once more. I guess he wasn't yet convinced that there wasn't anyone in here. He then looked upward, almost near where I was. I instinctively ducked my head behind the beam. I couldn't see him after that, but I hoped that my movement didn't catch his attention.

"Hey, you coming?" his partner asked from outside the door.

"Yeah," he replied and left the room.

I sighed in relief and collapsed on the beam. That was way too close. We were not even in the facility for five minutes and we were almost discovered. I guess that this was our first hurdle that we cleared. Unfortunately, I already knew that there would be far more, far harder ones ahead. I again wondered if it was even possible for us to make it through all this without getting caught. I figured that we could but the chances of that was razor thin and that was _only _if everything happened with us. Sadly, I just couldn't see that happening.

"Hey, you alright up there?" Chameleon's voice said up to me from below.

I peered around the beam and saw the three others looking up at me. It was nice to see that they were okay. I wondered where they were all hiding. Probably in plain sight. Lucky, indeed.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said back. "I'm coming down."

They moved out of the way as I formed my aura and floated down from the ceiling. Unfortunately, I had a repeat landing performance from the park. At about six feet above the floor, my aura vanished and I fell to the hard surface. Oh, God, how that hurt! It was painfully obvious that concrete was a lot harder than dirt. It's not even worth mentioning how it made my head feel at that moment. I could probably say that all this punishment wasn't doing the healing process any favors. Also, I noted to myself that from all my flights, and that includes my accidental tiny one four years ago, I still had yet to land on my feet. That was really embarrassing. A flying super that can't land on her own two feet. I definitely needed to work on that.

"Scratch that," I moaned. "I'm _not _fine."

"Are you alright?" Chameleon asked as he and his brother came over to help me.

"I will be eventually."

As they helped me to my feet, I saw that Ultraviolet was slowly shaking her head. It was very clear that she still didn't think that I could do this. That made me angry inside. God, what was up with her? Why did she still think that I was so incapable? I mean, yes, I was inexperienced, I had a slight concussion, and I still hated my powers. Well, I guess I have to admit that they were excellent reasons to think that, and if this was at any other time I probably wouldn't be in this place to begin with. But this time I felt an overwhelming need to be here. Whether it was because it was the right thing to do regardless of how I felt about myself, the guilt that I still had from not telling my mother about what was going on and was probably captured as a result, or my injury temporarily knocking me insane, I didn't know. Still, it felt like I have to prove myself to her, and maybe I had to, but I definitely didn't like it. And what about her saying that we had to trust each other if we wanted to succeed? How was that to happen if she seemed like she wasn't trusting me to begin with? I couldn't help but be a little peeved at her about that.

"You going to be okay?" she asked.

"I'll be fine," I told her, noticing how my voice sounded cooler towards her than intended.

She probably noticed it also, because she gave me a really strange look for a moment. It passed quickly and she continued on. "Let's move behind the office. It would shield us from the doors in case our friends decide to return."

We followed her behind the office. It did protect us from the doors and would give us some time to find another hiding place if the two guys did come back.

"Alright," Ultraviolet said. "As I was about to say before our rude little interruption, there's something in one of the research labs that we could use to help us destroy the missiles. One thing that I failed to mention was that the nanobots are kept in composite spheres inside the missiles that are virtually indestructible from the outside. You could destroy the missiles themselves but the spheres would remain intact. We need to destroy the nanobots along with the missiles, as they can't be allowed to exist. I have an idea to do just that. There's an experimental weapon in that lab we could use. They're adhesive mines that fire a focused and highly concentrated EMP charge."

"EMP?" Changeling asked. "You mean an electromagnetic pulse? That thing that fries electric circuits?"

"Exactly," she said. "The nanobots are far too tiny to have adequate EMP shielding and the spheres aren't really shielded at all. We could get into the lab, provided that it wouldn't be too dangerous, get those mines, and use them on the missiles. There is one major problem, though."

"Figures," Chameleon said. "Just when I thought that it would be easy."

"Two things about being a superhero," she told him. "There will always be problems, and things are never easy. Anyway, in order for this to work, the mines have to be within at least five feet of the missiles. Placing them directly on the missiles themselves would of course be the best option, but in case we can't do that, then it has to be within five feet."

"And let me guess," he said. "We have to find a way to put those mines on the missiles without being detected."

"That's the size of it. They're being guarded extremely well. I doubt that even I could get close enough to them, and that's with my invisibility. We might have to create some kind of diversion. I don't know what kind of diversion we could do, but we could figure something out."

"What about those workers held hostage?" I asked. "Would it be possible for us to get a few of them to secretly help us out or something?"

"That could possibly work," she replied. "There are a few problems with that as well. One is the matter of trusting the people that we would talk to. I'm not saying that any of the hostages are in league with Harriman or the mercenaries, although there have been times where a sort of sleeper had been among hostages. Anyway, this type of trust would be those people being able to pull off a diversion or even putting a mine on the missiles. I know most of those people and I think that there are a few that could help us if we could talk to them. And that's the other problem, actually being able to talk to them. They're all being guarded very closely and not being allowed to go anywhere that they can't be watched. I suppose that we could find a way to get a message to them, but that would be very difficult. It could actually be a great plan if executed properly and had a lot of luck. It's something that we should keep in mind. Right now we have to move. We now have slightly less than two hours. It might seem like we still have a lot of time, but believe me, it could completely flash by just like that."

"How do we get to the lab?" Chameleon asked.

"We can't get there directly," Ultraviolet told him. "They probably have it covered four times over. We could maybe reach it through the vents. We're in luck because we can enter most of the vents from this room. There's one almost right above our heads." She pointed to a vent that was just above the office. It looked like we had to climb onto the top of the office just to get into the vent. "Once inside, we have to be totally quiet. Sound echoes loudly and clearly in there. Keep behind me and try not to make any noise."

There was a small ladder on the wall next to us that went up to the top of the office. Ultraviolet went over to it and started climbing up. We followed her up the ladder and moments later all four of us were standing on top of the office. She went over to the vent and slowly and silently pulled off the vent cover. I felt a blast of almost arctic-cold air coming from the vent. Okay, it wasn't really _that _cold, but I was wondering if we really would freeze to death if we stayed in there too long. I mean, as incredible and almost indestructible our suits seemed to be, they didn't really feel like they were all that insulated. They were very comfortable, no doubt about that, but maybe Edna could've made them just a little thicker.

And there I go rambling on again. Notice how I keep doing that? So do I, unfortunately. It's a very bad habit of mine.

Anyway, Ultraviolet crouched down to the level of the now open vent but didn't enter it just yet. It looked big enough for us to crawl through.

"Remember, stay right behind me and absolutely no noise," she told us. "Last one in, put the cover back on quietly."

She went in the vent first, followed by Chameleon, then myself, and finally Changeling. He turned around, grabbed the cover and started to put it back onto the opening. He struggled with it for a moment, and got it on with a much too loud bang that echoed somewhat in the shaft and made me flinch. Ultraviolet looked back and glared at him. He looked very embarrassed.

"Sorry," he mouthed.

She did that ever more annoying head shake of hers and continued moving. Almost immediately after we moved away from the end, it got almost pitch dark inside. I hoped that she knew where she was leading us because I couldn't see anything around me. I wanted to make my body glow slightly to give us some light, but I don't think that she would've liked that. It probably would've helped me keep a little warm, though. Inside the shaft itself, that cold air felt a lot worse than the brief blast that I felt outside the vent. It was blowing in my hair, my ears, and my eyes. It was also making me plenty cold. I wondered if my heat powers could be affected by cold. I didn't know for sure. I probably would've tested that out now if I could, but I knew that this wasn't exactly the best time for experimenting. It didn't really stop me from thinking about it, though. Besides my flying powers making me thirsty, although I still had yet to prove there was a link between the two, what other weaknesses did I have? Water, maybe? A fire extinguisher? It was hard to tell, and quite frankly, something that I shouldn't be thinking about at that moment.

We were coming up to our first vent in the shaft. The little light that it let in dimly lit up that part of the shaft. Although it wasn't much, I was now able to actually see something, and that something at the moment was Ultraviolet holding up her left hand, signaling us to be still and quiet. I didn't know why, but then I heard voices. They were very quiet and I couldn't tell what they were saying, but it sounded like they were just outside the vent. They must've been walking past because their voices got quieter and then they were gone. Ultraviolet looked like she was listening for a few seconds and then motioned for us to move forward. So far, so good.

That luck seemed to hold as we moved through several shafts, one of them sloping upwards. It was slightly slippery and we had to be careful. We managed to get through that section without slipping and making too much noise. From there we moved into other sections. At almost the exact moment that I was starting to wonder just how long we were going to be in this very cold shaft, Ultraviolet raised her hand again and we stopped in front of a large vent. She pulled out that little device of hers from her belt and stuck the tube through the vent and put the earpiece on. She watched and listened for about ten or so seconds and then put the device away. She took hold of the vent cover and carefully took it off and moved it to the side. Without saying a word to us, she climbed out of the shaft and motioned for us to follow her. The three of us climbed out of the shaft and into some hallway. I didn't take a minute to look around because I was busy rubbing my arms down. Ahh, warmth at last!

"Were you cold in there or something?" Chameleon asked with some amusement in his voice.

"A little," I admitted.

"Yeah, it was a little bit on the frigid side, wasn't it?"

"Quiet," Ultraviolet told us harshly.

We hushed up quickly and it was only then that I took the time to look around. The hallway that we were in kind of reminded me of the one that led to Edna's secret room below her mansion. Shiny, very high tech, lit up in light blue lighting, and had an almost very fitting sinister look to it. It really gave me goosebumps. Jeez, does anyone know how to build normal, boring hallways anymore?

It looked like we exited the shaft right next to the research lab because Ultraviolet moved to a big door that looked like it was made from stainless steel that was to the left of the vent. It also helped that it said on the door in big and almost futuristic letters, **_RESEARCH LAB 2. _**I noticed a keypad next to the door and a camera right above it. For a terrifying split second, I thought that the camera could see us and a wave of men and/or machines would be upon us any second. I then remembered that she said that she did something to the cameras earlier. I was praying that whatever she did was still working.

She pulled out a tiny rectangular thing from her belt and held it close to the keypad. She pressed a button on it and it let out a tiny beep. A second later another beep came from the keypad and the door opened with a click, a hiss and a small electric hum. Even though the whole thing was fairly quiet, it was still way too loud for my liking and I was certain that someone else besides us must've heard it. She went inside and we quickly followed her. The door shut behind us just as quietly as it opened, or just as noisily from my point of view.

"What was that thing you used to open the door?" Changeling asked her.

"It's a little thing of mine that picks out a random code to open secured doors," she told him.

"Wait a sec," Chameleon said. "I thought you worked here. Wouldn't you know the code to the door?"

"Yes, I know the code," she replied. "The problem is that if I used my own code, it would log my real name into the mainframe and they would know that I was here. It's a security feature designed into this place. This thing works around that and lets me open doors without logging any name into the system."

"Where do you get those things?" Changeling asked.

"I made most of them," she said.

"Do you have names for them?"

"No, I don't. I don't believe in names, especially names like the Amazing Ascentor, or the Katputer or other stupid crap like that. Sometimes I wonder what goes on in other supers' heads naming their things like that. Anyway, come on, the mines should be over here."

The dimly lit research lab was a little more than I expected. It was a big room separated by a glass wall in the middle. On the side that we were on, the room had several rows of tables and workstations filled with computers, microscopes, beakers, and tons of other things that I didn't recognize. On the front wall, there was the company name and slogan, **_ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES INCORPORATED: BRINGING THE FUTURE TO TODAY'S WORLD. _**The slogan was nothing new since they always advertised it with their products, but at that moment it sort of had a sinister sound to it. It actually gave me the chills when I looked at it.

The room on the other side of the glass wall was pretty much nothing more than an empty space with yellow lines arranged in a grid shape on the floor and the bottom third of the walls. I guessed that the room was probably used to test out products. That was where Ultraviolet was leading us. I saw that the glass wall dividing the room had a chamber in the middle with doors on both ends. That was probably some kind of precaution. Like the door to the lab, it had a keypad to the side, and just like before, she used that thing of hers to open the first door. There was a loud whooshing sound the moment the door opened and I felt a slight pressure change in my ears. The room was probably pressurized or something. We entered the chamber and the door closed behind us. The second door opened immediately after the first one opened and we stepped inside the huge, dark, and totally empty room. Our footsteps echoed loudly as we moved. Ultraviolet walked over to a row of lockers along one of the walls. Each one was tall and had, yet again, a keypad system. She didn't even bother with her device this time. She simply went to one of them and punched in a code. There was a click and she opened the locker door. She then pulled out four of what looked like round disks with straps on them.

"Here they are," she said to us. "We each take one. Tie it around your belts. Be careful with them. These things probably won't react so well to super powers, especially yours." She said that last part to me. "They can withstand heat to a degree, but any more and they'll melt. Do _not _lose them at any cost, and…"

She was interrupted when there came a voice over the intercom. _"Attention, level one test firing of rockets will commence in thirty seconds. Repeat, level one test firing of rockets will commence in thirty seconds."_

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"It means they're about to test the missiles' engines to see if they'll work," she told me. "We're running out of time."

She pulled out her TV thing and pushed a few buttons on it. The screen turned on and showed what looked like an area outside the place. In the center of the screen was what I presumed was one of the missiles. Judging by the picture quality, I guessed that we were looking at it through one of the security cameras. A second later a large flame shot out from the back and burned fiercely for about fifteen seconds then it stopped.

"What happened?" Chameleon asked.

"That was the test," Ultraviolet replied. "A successful one from what I can tell."

"How are you getting that? Are you tapped into the security network or something?"

"Yes. I've mentioned that I was able to make it so they wouldn't be able to see us. It also makes it possible for me to see what's going on in the entire facility."

As if to demonstrate, she flipped through the images. I was able to see mostly hallways, some of them with armed men walking up and down them. I also saw what looked like a warehouse, several offices, and another site where a missile was. She changed to another view and we were looking at the inside of a darkened storage room. She was about to change it again when a huge dark thing suddenly appeared and moved right underneath the camera at great speed. It moved so fast that I didn't have time to see what it was.

"Did you see that?" Changeling asked. "What was that?"

"I don't know," Ultraviolet said. "Let's see if I could catch it on another view."

She switched to another view and what I saw there made my blood freeze solid and made me totally forget what we just saw a moment ago. There was my mother in her Electricia suit lying on the floor inside some kind of glowing and pulsing square. There were occasional flashes above the square and I guessed that she was surrounded by a force field or something. She wasn't moving at all and it was hard to tell if she was unconscious or dead. It didn't matter to me because just seeing her like that hurt me extremely deeply. I imagined that she was still alive judging by the field and the dozen or so men surrounding her, but what was her exact condition? Was she just unconscious, or was she badly hurt and on the verge of death?

"Mom," I whispered quietly.

"Oh, man," Chameleon said. "Is she alright?"

"I can't tell," Ultraviolet said in strangely quiet voice.

The sound of her voice made me look at her. She was looking at me in a compassionate way and that shocked me. I didn't expect that from her and most of the resentment I felt toward her for not trusting me evaporated away immediately.

"It'll be alright," she told me. "I'm sure she's fine. She should be alive if she's being guarded like that. Don't worry, we'll rescue her." She gave me a reassuring smile and a gentle pat on the shoulder and then the look on her face changed to a more serious one. "Okay, the plan still hasn't changed. I'm still deciding whether it would be a good idea for us to split up. It would be a no-brainer if we all had experience and knew this place well, but you three don't and that could be a bit of a problem."

"Why do you say that?" Changeling asked her.

"Because inexperience and lack of knowledge about a place can get you killed, that's why," she told him. "Anyway, we need to get above ground. The only way we could do that secretively is to use the maintenance shaft. Unfortunately, there's no secret way to get there. We're going to have to chance it through a few hallways. Are you all up for this?"

"Yeah," the three of us told her.

She nodded her head. "Okay, let's go."

As we left the room and walked toward the door of the research lab, the image of my mother lying there on the floor was galvanized inside my head. I knew that it was important that we stop those missiles from launching toward Metroville, but for me the top priority was rescuing Mom from wherever she was being held. I know how mean and selfish that sounded, but I didn't care. I wanted her to be alright and safe. I remembered when she mentioned in the video that she made that _"in some cases, a super is expendable" _, but I couldn't accept that. My mother definitely wasn't expendable in any case, and I was going to save her, with or without the other three. It renewed my reason for being here.

"You know, it would be just our luck if something happened the moment we left this lab," Chameleon said.

"Don't jinx it," Changeling told him.

"Why?"

"Just…don't."

When we reached the door, Ultraviolet used her code device to open the door. It opened and we stepped out of the lab and into the hallway…only to come face to face with three armed guards.


	19. Under The Influence

_Author's note: Hello again, my friends. It's now been one year since I started this story, so here's the next chapter for the anniversary. Enjoy and like always, please review._

**Chapter 19 **

I knew it! I knew the moment those words left Chameleon's mouth, he cursed us. I had a few curse words for him but I kept them inside my head. I probably shouldn't have been as upset by this situation as I felt, but I couldn't help it. Things like this **_always _**happened, in books, on shows, in movies, and now in real life. The moment someone would say something like that, something would happen either immediately or later on. Unfortunately for us, it was very immediate. If there was any bright side to this, it looked like those three guards weren't waiting for us. They were probably just patrolling the hallway and were just passing by the lab when we came out. So they were most likely just as surprised by our sudden appearance as we were of them.

"Hey!" one of them shouted and all three of them started to raise their weapons at us.

I was so stunned by this sudden turn of events that I was frozen in place and couldn't act if my life depended on it, and unfortunately at that moment, it did. Luckily, I didn't have to do anything, and neither did Chameleon or Changeling. Ultraviolet reacted to the situation so quickly that my eyes barely had the time to register what was actually going on. Before the three men had their weapons fully raised and aimed at us, she grabbed the rifle out of the far right guy's hands by the end and then swung it like a baseball bat, striking it across all three guys' heads. They all fell to the floor like dominoes. Two of them were out cold while the third groaned and struggled to get on his hand and knees. She took care of him with a hard well-placed kick to the side of his head and he was down and out.

'_Three strikes and they're all out,' _I thought suddenly. I blinked furiously at that crazy thought. Oh my God, it was starting! The totally stupid and incredibly cheesy one-liners that supers were notorious for saying and now I was starting to do it. Well, I guess that the only comfort was that at least I just thought it to myself instead of saying it out loud, but to me it was just as bad, though.

It was then that I saw that she actually cracked the weapon in half when she hit it against the helmets of those guards! That had to be some great force behind that swing. I wondered if she seriously injured them or maybe even killed them. There was no real way of knowing because of their helmets and body armor. She lowered the broken rifle, let out a deep sigh, and brushed her raven hair back from her eyes. I then saw that she had a look on her face that actually scared me. If I could best describe what that look was, I could probably say that it was almost primal, almost animal looking. Whatever it was, it completely vanished when she turned and made direct eye contact with us.

"That's one more thing about being a super," she said to us. "Always expect the unexpected. Come on, let's move them inside the lab. One of you pick up their weapons" I guess that the three of us were still stunned by what we saw because we didn't move. She noticed it quickly. "Come on!" she told us sharply. "Move it!"

That snapped us out of our shock and we moved into action. She and Chameleon grabbed the hands of two of the unconscious men and started dragging them back toward the lab door while Changeling grabbed the weapons. That left me to handle the last guy. I shook my head.

'_Well, gee, thanks a lot,' _I thought.

With a heavy sigh, I reluctantly picked up the hands of the guard and started to pull his limp body to the door. He was really heavy and I was struggling and grunting with the effort. Ultraviolet had already opened the door and the three of us pulled the guards into the lab. We dragged them back to that second room where we got the mines. Once inside she went over to the lockers and opened up three of them.

"We're going to put them in there," she told us. "It should keep them out of the way for a while."

"Would those doors hold in case they try to break out of there?" Changeling asked.

"There's no real way of telling," she replied. "The doors are fairly strong and they have to be considering what we put inside them, but they might not hold up against repeated blows. But even if they manage to break out of the lockers, there's no way they can leave this room. The walls are three-foot thick reinforced concrete and that glass is bulletproof and one foot thick. Unless they have dedicated tools to break out of here, and I didn't see any on them, they're not going anywhere."

"Well, that's a relief," Chameleon said.

"_Relief?" _Ultraviolet said in an almost incredulous tone. "You don't get it, do you? In case you didn't, here it is short and to the point. This had just made our task all the more difficult. Sooner or later, and probably a lot sooner than we'd all like, they're going to realize that three of their men have gone missing and when that happens, they're going to be swarming all over this facility looking for them, and possible intruders. In other words, us. I don't know about you, but to me, relief is the very last thing that any of us should be feeling. Alright, let's get them into these lockers."

And there she went again with those outbursts. Man, I was beginning to wonder if we were going to be hearing things like that for the rest of the night. It could've been that she was one of those people that had a tendency of blowing up on people with really no reason. It was becoming increasingly frustrating, but I suppose that there wasn't really anything we could do about it. We just had to grit our teeth and bear it. It was going to be a very long night.

After a lot of struggling and maneuvering we somehow managed to squeeze those three guys into the lockers. It looked amazingly uncomfortable and claustrophobic, but I guess that the only thing that mattered was that they were contained, for now at least.

After we closed the doors, Ultraviolet said to us, "I need to go check out something for a moment. Stay here in the lab until I get back. Keep quiet and don't touch anything."

"But what if those guys come to or another group of guards surprise us?" Changeling asked her.

"Then deal with the matter as you see fit," she said matter-of-factly. "I just have to check up on something. I'll be back in a minute of two." With that she walked out of the door and left us alone in the lab.

We only looked at each other for a moment. I had a very strong feeling that all three of us were thinking the exact same thing. It was confirmed a second later when Changeling broke the silence and said, "Do you two have the feeling that she doesn't seem to like us too much?"

Chameleon scoffed. "Yeah, from about the moment she put one of her force fields around us in the woods."

"I don't think it's the fact that she hates us or anything," I said. "It's probably the fact that we in a way kind of butted in on this and now she has to keep track of us. You probably can't really blame her for feeling like that. I just wish that she wasn't so…_cold_ towards us and make us feel so useless." I felt myself getting angry again when I said that. I couldn't help it. Just the thought of sometime seemingly doubting your abilities and having to try and prove yourself would more than likely be enough to make anyone at least a little upset.

"No argument there," Chameleon said. "Man, if she was always like that, I can see why the Incredibles had family issues."

"I agree somewhat," Changeling joined in. "But there's usually some reason behind why people act the way they do. I'm almost certain that's the same with her."

"But what reason could it be?" I wondered out loud.

"It could be anything," he replied. "It has to be something, though. People don't act the way they do for the hell of it. Well, not usually at least."

"I guess the only way to know for sure is if she told us herself," Chameleon said. He then chuckled to himself. "Good luck seeing that happen."

The conversation ended for a moment after that and I began to think some more about Ultraviolet. I guess that was only natural considering that I was such an already numerously mentioned curious person. Anyway, I already suspected from the very beginning that her, well, coldness towards us was the result of something that happened to her. As to what that was, we'd probably never know, but it seemed that we were in agreement that it was something bad and very likely happened during the turbulent years or just before them. At least, that was how I thought about it. In a way, I actually felt kind of sorry for her, but that didn't mean that I was ready to forgive her for her attitude towards us. Maybe things could change later on, but at that moment, the more outbursts she let out towards us, the angrier I was getting, and I was certain that both Chameleon and Changeling were feeling the same way.

After about a minute passed and she still hadn't come back, Chameleon went over to one of the counters and looked at all the different items that were sitting on top of it. He ran his fingers across some of the objects and even picked up one of them. It looked like some kind of vial that was filled halfway with some orange liquid. That made me kind of nervous. We had absolutely no idea what some of this stuff actually did.

"I wonder what some of these things are and what they do," he said, closely inspecting the vial.

"Um, I don't think that you should be touching any of those things," his brother warned him.

"Hey, I'm being careful," he said.

"No, I really think you should put that down," I said. "Ultraviolet told us not to touch anything in here and we don't know what these things can do."

"Okay, okay," he said in a very annoyed voice. He shook his head as he set the vial back down on the counter. However, he probably set it down wrong because it tipped over and the top of it broke. The orange liquid inside spilled out onto the counter. "Oh, great," he muttered.

"See what I mean," Changeling told him.

"It's just a little spill," he said as he grabbed a nearby rag and cleaned it up. It was about that time that the smell hit me. It was a smell that I really couldn't describe. It wasn't an overly bad smell, but it was really powerful. It made my nose tingle.

"See, all clean," Chameleon said. "Smells weird, though."

"You can say that again," Changeling agreed. "Hope it's not anything toxic."

"It's probably not." He sounded a little unsure when he said that.

"And how would you know?" I challenged. "As I said before, we don't know anything about this stuff."

"Alright, I don't know," he admitted, his voice rising a little. "But if it was something toxic, we'd all probably be dead now."

"Maybe, maybe not," Changeling said, his own voice having a slightly harder edge to it as well. "For all we know, it could be something slow acting and kill us later on."

As we were talking, I did feel a tiny bit strange. It was hard to tell if it was due to the liquid and we had been poisoned or something. It didn't feel like it was doing any harm to my body and it certainly didn't fell like I was about to die. But like Changeling said, it could be something that was slow acting and could kill us later on. Somehow I doubted it, though. Things that were hazardous to people would usually be locked up somewhere that was totally safe. That's how it was in school science labs and I was certain without doubt that's how it was in labs such as this one. Still, it would probably be a good idea to tell Ultraviolet about what happened and ask her what that stuff was, even though she was getting very annoying. Speaking of very annoying, that's how Chameleon and to a lesser extent Changeling were at that moment and I really wished that both of them would just shut up.

"Look, I'm positive that nothing's going to happen to us," Chameleon said. His voice level was now just below the point of actually shouting. "It was just some harmless liquid or something. God, why are you freaking out about that?"

"I'm not freaking out about that!" Changeling actually shouted back to his brother. "It's just that Ultraviolet told us not to touch anything in here and you just went ahead and did it anyway! I'm sorry, but I think that it was very stupid to…"

"Hey, don't you even _dare _call me stupid!" Chameleon yelled at him. "You want stupid? That's how you're acting right now! That's how you always acted!"

"Oh, and what's that supposed to mean?" Changeling was practically in his brother's face at that moment.

"It means, if you stop analyzing and dissecting every little thing in your path, you might be able to accomplish a helluva lot more and not hold everyone back! More specifically, not hold _me _back!"

"Oh, I see! This is about you! Mr. Impatience! Always wanting to run into dangerous places, knock everyone out, and ask questions later! Maybe it might do _you _some good to do some analyzing and dissecting of your own! Maybe then you'll know that there's always more options than the direct approach!"

"It's usually the direct approach that works! And since I see that you're so opposed to it, then maybe it's time that you…"

"Hey, why don't you both just shut up!" I finally yelled at them, interrupting their argument. "This isn't helping anything!"

Of course, that didn't help matters at all. "Don't tell me to shut up!" Chameleon snarled at me. "In fact, I've got things to say to you as well! Ever since we first met, all you ever did was moan and complain and bitch! Nothing I did was even remotely satisfying to you!"

"What are you talking about?" I demanded angrily. "Like what?" Somewhere in a very tiny and recessed part of my brain, I knew that something very wrong was happening between the three of us, but the rest of me was nothing other than a mass of pure anger that was growing astronomically with every passing second and didn't care about anything else.

"Don't play dumb with me, Jess! You know damn well what I'm talking about! But if you want examples, here are a few! You always insist that I was spying on you even though I wasn't, and…"

"Oh, come on!" I interrupted quickly. "Don't you even try to lie about that! You were definitely spying on me and you know it! Being invisible when we first met, the note in my locker at school, and _especially Westville! _You don't go all the way out there at the same time that I do just to do a little _'shopping'_! If that just doesn't scream spying, then I don't know what does!"

"See, there you go again with that spying crap!" he shouted. "I swear, you are probably the most paranoid person I've ever met!"

"It has nothing to do with being paranoid! I'm just getting sick of you following me everywhere and invading my personal space! I wouldn't be surprised if you managed to put some kind of transmitter on me that tracked my every position! I wouldn't put it past you, though, knowing you and all!"

"What do you mean by that?" He actually pushed Changeling aside and moved closer to me.

"Hey!" his younger brother complained. "What did you do that for?"

We both ignored him. We were now standing about a couple of feet apart, glaring daggers into the other's eyes. We were probably too far gone to stop even if we had to.

"You know absolutely _nothing _about me!" he yelled at me. "So don't even pretend that you do!"

"You're right, I don't!" I yelled back at him. "All I know about you is that you're cocky, selfish, immature, and drove a rusted out and banged up piece of shit that would've fallen apart if someone sneezed in it wrongly! But it seems like you're trying your hardest to learn all about me! Why is that, huh? Do I interest you or something? Well, everything you need to know about me is standing right here in front of you and that's all! Nothing more!"

"Oh, that's real cute! Remind me to laugh later! And I knew you couldn't let the car go! I guess that's something else that I know about you besides being terrified of your own powers! You just love to insult everyone and everything around you, and I'm getting sick and tired of it!"

"And _I'm _getting sick and tired of you spying on me and how _great _your so-called _'supermobile' _was going to be! Someone did the world a great favor by blowing it up! In fact, I'm just getting sick and tired of you _period _and wish that same someone would do the same thing to you!"

"Hey, hey, this is getting out of hand!" Changeling tried to cut in.

"You keep out of this!" Chameleon and I shouted at him at the same time. Chameleon's eyes were squinted to near slits and his face was deep red with intense anger. My own face probably looked the same way and it felt like my blood was literally boiling with my rage. I had a feeling that this whole thing was about to get extremely nasty in a second. I was far from caring, though. In fact, I think it wanted it to get nasty.

"If you hate me so much, why don't you go ahead and leave!" he shouted and pointed at the door. "No one's stopping you!"

"I've got an even better idea!" I shouted back. "Why don't _you _go ahead and leave! It would probably do the rest of us some good! We won't be dragging around such useless baggage like yourself!"

He closed the space between us and we were now probably less than a foot apart. "You're really pushing me, Jess!" he threatened through gritted teeth. "You do _not _want to do that!"

"Oh, and why is that, huh?" I said that practically right in his face. "You gonna hit me or something? Just go ahead and do it! I would **_love _**to see you try!" When he didn't do anything for a few seconds I just smirked at him. "Just as I thought! Very typical of you! All talk and no…"

I was cut off as he actually gave me a very forceful shove backwards. It caught me completely off guard and I stumbled onto the floor. In a brief moment of clarity that followed, I was totally shocked that he really did that. Granted that it wasn't an actual punch, but it was still shocking nonetheless. I probably should've seen it coming though because I had kind of provoked him and in a way maybe even deserved it.

But that was as far as the clarity went before the intense rage that seemed to be fueling my tirade towards him came back and far stronger than ever. It even surpassed the anger that I felt towards him after our fight at the mall and I thought that nothing could ever beat that. I glared at him with such fire in my eyes that I wouldn't be surprised if they were glowing. Other parts of my body were really glowing, though. Feeling a tiny bit of heat in my hands and seeing a part of the immediate area around me light up, I looked down and saw that both of my hands were glowing bright orange and surrounded by tiny flames. It was the same thing that also happened at the mall. Changeling's eyes widened and he began to back away from me, but his older brother stood his ground. I think that he may have had a tiny bit of shock himself in his eyes, but his face was still a mask of anger and that was what really made me explode.

In a surge of uncontrollable rage I screamed at him at the top of my lungs, "You _goddamn **BASTARD!**_" In a move that went way past shocking, I raised my right hand and launched a fireball straight at Chameleon! It hit him square in his chest and sent him flying into the wall behind him. He probably wasn't seriously hurt by that attack. His suit protected him from my fireball so he was most likely just stunned.

If I was even remotely in another state of mind, I would've been completely freaked out by what I'd just done. But since I knew nothing but anger and wasn't really myself at that moment, that fiery first attack wasn't enough for me. Before he even had a chance to get back up on his feet, I was already up on mine and dove on top of him in a flying tackle, slamming him back down on the floor. My fists went wild, pummeling him wherever they landed. I was also screaming a lot of unintelligible words at him, possibly a lot of curse words and how much I hated him. I managed to get a few good wallops before Changeling grabbed me from behind and tried to pull me off his brother.

"Come on, stop it!" he shouted at both of us. "You both have gone totally insane!"

He managed to pull me partly off Chameleon and the fight might've ended there, but it was then that he swung his right arm out defensively and struck me across the side of my head, knocking me off him and into a nearby counter. My head rang with the impact but it didn't bother me at all.

What really did bother me was the moment he was able to get me off him, he immediately pressed his advantage by climbing on me and holding me down. Actually, it seemed like he was trying to choke me since his hands were practically around my neck and holding on tightly. I tried to pry them loose but they wouldn't budge. In defense I managed to get my hands up and wrap them around his throat. He reacted by doing the same and there we were on the floor trying to choke the life out of the other. It was probably a race to see which one of us could hold onto the other the longest before we passed out. I guess in a move to shake our hands loose from the other's throat, we began to roll around on the floor, bouncing off both the wall and the counter on either side of us. It was then that he managed to get his leg up between us and force me off. We rolled away from each other and stood up on our feet, rubbing our necks. We were panting heavily and staring at each other with murderous looks in our eyes. My hands began to glow again by themselves but I didn't notice.

Changeling took that moment to step in between us. He held his hands out and said, "You guys have to stop this. You're going to kill each other if you keep this up. Can't you see that there's something seriously wrong with us?"

"I'll say there's something wrong," Chameleon said. "Things have been very wrong since we met that little she-devil over there."

"Oh, that's _real _rich," I shot back. "But it's better to be a she-devil than a little transvestite."

"Ooh, that does it," he growled in a low voice. "Let's end this here and now."

"Yeah, _let's_."

Changeling still stood in between us. "No, I'm not going to let you do this to each other!" he shouted.

"Get out of the way, Chance," Chameleon told his brother. "This is between me and her."

"Just stop and think about it for a moment, will you?" he pleaded. "You two are partners, you're friends…"

"Friends?" I interrupted. "Ha! I'd rather be friends with an amoeba."

He sighed loudly. "Okay, look. You two might not know what's going on. Alright, I don't really know, either, but it's obvious that something's going on with us. Just back down and we could talk about it, okay?"

We just stood there staring at each other for a few moments. Then surprisingly Chameleon relaxed his posture, but only slightly. I did the same and my hands stopped glowing. Feeling my fiery anger cool a little, some rational thoughts began to fill my brain. Maybe Changeling was onto something.

"Alright, what do you think is going on?" Chameleon asked.

Before Changeling could explain what he thought was happening, the lab door opened and Ultraviolet came back in. She stopped immediately what she saw us standing in that position and had a curious expression on her face.

"What's going on here?" she asked.

The three of us looked just at each other. We didn't answer her. I didn't think that we could answer her as we didn't know what was going on ourselves. All I knew was that I still had that huge anger, but now that I could think slightly better than before, I couldn't tell exactly where that anger came from. It was like it was just there all of a sudden. I think it started just after Chameleon spilled that liquid. Was there some kind of connection between that and our fight? I couldn't think straight as I was still so furious with him.

Ultraviolet sighed and crossed her arms. "Let me guess," she said. "You touched something in here, didn't you?"

We still were quiet for a moment before Changeling broke the silence by saying, "More like we spilled something."

And then it happened again. My mouth developed a mind of its own and I blurted out, "Which wouldn't have happened if Chameleon here didn't have butterfingers."

Chameleon let out a frustrated groan. "There you go again!" he said loudly. "You just can't keep that mouth of yours quiet, can you?"

Even though I didn't mean to say what I did, the moment he said that to me, I felt my previously waning anger towards him come roaring back. "Well maybe if you stop acting like such a prick, you wouldn't be hearing my mouth now, would you?" I countered.

"Okay, that's enough," Ultraviolet warned.

"You're doing it again," Changeling joined in. "Get a hold of yourselves."

We ignored them and once again glared furiously at each other. "Well, maybe I'm just getting tired of hearing your mouth period," he told me.

"And maybe I'm just getting tired of seeing you," I said back.

"So once again, let's settle this right now."

"After you, then. Ladies do go first, after all."

He took a step, I took a step, and that was all we got before we were surrounded by a purple transparent orb. Ultraviolet put up a separate force field around both of us, preventing us from moving any further. She looked very upset with us, but probably not as upset as I suddenly was with her for stopping us from finishing this.

"I said, that is **_enough!_" **she told us in a very firm and commanding voice. "What the hell's gotten into the both of you?"

"I think I know," Changeling said. He went over to the counter. He then picked up the broken vial and brought it to her. She looked at it and immediately shook her head.

"I should've known," she said. She told Changeling, "You see that beaker over there on that shelf? The one with the light blue liquid inside? Take a tiny drink out of it and then bring it here."

"Why?" he asked her.

"That stuff in the vial was a type of chemical that strongly affects emotions and you three have been influenced by it," she explained. "It will go away on it's own but only after about a day or so. The liquid in that beaker will neutralize it immediately."

"Um, is it safe to drink?" he asked hesitantly.

"Yes, it is. Go ahead and do it."

He went over to where the beaker was and picked it up. He looked at it for a few moments before he put it to his lips and took a sip. A look of slight disgust appeared on his face but passed quickly. He then brought the beaker to over where we were.

Ultraviolet looked at both Chameleon and me and told us, "I'm going to release you both now, and when I do, you will not make any threatening moves or even say a word toward each other until you drink this. Do I make myself perfectly clear?"

We didn't seem to have much of a choice in the matter, so we nodded our heads. She lowered her fields and then handed the beaker to Chameleon first. He hesitated for a few seconds but quickly took a drink when she gave him a pretty mean glare. The same look of disgust went across his face. She took the beaker from him and handed it to me. I looked at the liquid inside for a moment before I took a breath, closed my eyes, and brought the beaker to my lips to take a drink. A very sour and bitter taste flooded my mouth and I couldn't help but make my own look of disgust on my face. The nasty taste passed quickly but it left my mouth tingling.

"Better now?" she asked us.

I didn't really feel anything besides the tingling in my mouth. I was about to ask her what she meant when I did feel something. It wasn't anything that I felt physically within my body, but it was like all of a sudden my anger vanished completely. Now that my mind was totally free of any anger, the full impact of what we had just done hit me like a sledgehammer.

"Oh, man, what were we doing?" Chameleon said, his voice very soft.

I didn't say anything. I _couldn't_ say anything. I was so shocked, so terrified by our actions that I felt physically ill and sank to my knees. I couldn't believe that I was ever capable of such anger, such hatred. And the fact that I lost enough control to actually shoot a fireball at my own partner, my friend! God, if it was just a foot higher…The memories came flooding back, burning Chris' cheek on that rainy day four years ago, losing my temper with Chameleon at the mall a couple of days ago, and now this. I completely broke down at that point. There was no way that I could stop it.

"Hey, don't cry," Changeling said, coming over to try and comfort me. "It'll be alright."

"No, it won't," I told him through my tears. "How can you even say that after what just happened?"

"I know that it wasn't completely our fault," Chameleon said, gently placing his hand on my shoulder. "I've already forgiven you. Look, I know how you feel, and…"

"No, you don't!" I yelled at him, shaking his hand loose from my shoulder. "You don't get it, do you? You might be able to get over this easily and act like it never happened, but I can't! Do you actually remember what almost happened to you, what I could've done to you? I almost _killed _you! If that fireball was just one foot higher, it would've hit you directly in your face! You could be dead now!" I turned so I couldn't look at them and continued in a lower voice. "This is exactly the reason why I hate my powers and wish that I never had them to began with. They're so incredibly destructive. You three will never know what it's like to live with such devastating power inside you. I was perfectly happy with not using them again after what happened four years ago. Then all this started to happen, and, well, here I am. And look what almost happened because of it. So spare me the 'I know how you feel' crap, because you haven't got the slightest clue how I feel. None of you do."

We were all quiet after that and I thought that they weren't going to say anything, which would've been fine with me since I preferred it to be quiet, but then…

"I know."

Ultraviolet's very soft voice surprised me and I turned to her. "What?" I asked.

"I know exactly how you feel," she said in that same soft voice..

I couldn't help but let out a dry chuckle. "No offense," I told her. "I really find it hard to believe that you know exactly how I feel. How could you? You don't have the same destructive powers that I do. So please don't say something like that to me."

She didn't say anything but she moved over to me and knelt down in front of me. I looked down so I couldn't see her face. I really didn't feel like looking at anyone right then.

"Look at me," said to me. I continued to look down, not wanting to look at her. She put her hand on my shoulder and repeated, "Jess, look at me."

Slowly I looked up and met her eyes. She had a look of complete compassion and…sadness? That was really surprising and I had to look closer to know if I was really seeing that. Yes, she was definitely having that look. Why did she have that look of sadness?

"I understand how you feel," she said. "I wouldn't have said that if I didn't. Yes, I don't have your type of powers, but I know the feeling all too well. I don't have time to go into the full story, but I can say that I came really close to killing someone who I liked…who I loved, in a fit of uncontrollable anger. If someone hadn't stopped me, I would've done just that. It affected me like you wouldn't believe. In a way, it still does even now." She stopped and looked down. She sighed softly and blinked a few times before she looked back up and continued on. "I'm going to tell you exactly what my mom told me on my very first mission. She said, _'Doubt is a luxury that we can't afford. You have more power than you realize. Don't think, and don't worry. If the time comes, you'll know what to do. It's in your blood.' _You have no idea how much that helped me on that island. And now I'm saying that to you. We're in this together now. Believe me, if I thought for a moment that you were useless or dangerous then I wouldn't have let you come along. I have no doubt that you'll make a great super. I would say more to you, but we are running short on time and this isn't the best place to have this conversation. Please take what I just told you to heart, okay? Remember, we're here trying to save both everyone in this place and in Metroville. I bet that both your parents would be very proud of you right now. Do you feel better now?"

Amazingly, I did. All of my sadness was gone and I felt really happy for the first time in a long time. "Yeah," I told her. "Thank you." Then without really meaning to, I reached over and gave her a big hug. I think that surprised her, but she recovered quickly and reached around and held me, gently patting my back. It was really comforting.

And of course, Chameleon just had nothing better to do than spoil the moment. "Aw, what a Kodak moment," he joked and both he and his brother laughed. I quickly pulled away from Ultraviolet, blushing furiously.

"Okay, that's enough," she told them, but I clearly heard the small smile in her voice.

She stood back up and helped me back on my own feet. She gave me one last look of compassion before turning serious again. "Okay, let's get back to business here. We have an hour and forty-five minutes to go, and I think that I've found a way to get to the first missile undetected. It'll be very dangerous getting there so be ready to act at anytime. Follow me and stay silent."

As we left the lab, I felt Chameleon take my hand and squeeze it gently. I looked at him and he gave me a very friendly and encouraging smile. I squeezed his hand and smiled back. It was very nice to know that he still trusted me and thought of me as his friend even though I almost killed him. Maybe, just maybe, I could get through this after all.

But despite what Ultraviolet said to me and how she made me feel, I still had some doubts about myself. I always kept wondering before about how far could my temper take me if I completely lost it and now I saw just how deadly and terrifying it really was. The others might trust me, but I didn't. Yes, I was under the influence of some emotion potion or whatever that was, but that didn't comfort me in the least bit. What guarantee was there that I wouldn't lose complete control of my temper for real in the future? There wasn't any. I was certain that the others would try and help me if it came to that, but I couldn't help but wonder who would help them if I lost it again.


	20. Separated

_Author's note: Welcome back, my friends. I have some news. I'm now in the planning stages of two new projects, one of which could be a possible spin-off to this story. Nothing's official or set in concrete, and the spin-off would only be published when this story is done. So as I'm doing that, updates might become longer. Anyway, here's the next chapter. Enjoy. _

**Chapter 20**

As the four of us snuck our way through a couple more of those dark, cold, and inhuman looking halls of the facility, a few things were running through my mind. You're probably noticing that I seem to like to think about stuff a lot. I did seem to mention that before and I guess that the only way to really explain it was that it was just the type of person that I was.

The first thing that was going through my mind was obviously what happened in the research lab. I was still shocked and very shaken by that event. Even though we were being affected by some…stuff or whatever that was and it really wasn't our fault, I just couldn't believe that Chameleon and I came so close to actually killing each other. I mean, in the three-and-a-half days that I've known him, we already had a good share of disagreements, a couple of arguments, and in the mall, a case of me completely losing my temper at him and practically strangling him to death. But even that didn't even come close to this. What kind of person was I if I could almost kill another person just by losing my temper? Add that to the fact that I had such explosive power inside me and it just made it a million times worse. I've always heard that saying that there are times when it seems like your life is teetering on the edge of some great chasm, but I've never understood it until that moment. That was exactly how I felt right then and I knew that it wouldn't take much to send me over that edge. I could only hope that the other three were there to hold me back.

The second thing that I was thinking about was Ultraviolet herself. Yes, I know that I was thinking about her quite a bit in the barely two hours that we were together, but this time I felt like I had a more valid reason to. She was just so confusing to me. How could she be so cold and closed one moment, and then caring and compassionate the next? I really thought that I had her figured out, but now I had a lot more questions about her then before. It was now very hard to judge what her true personality really was, but I had a very strong feeling that it leaned toward the caring and compassionate side. It would be great if she showed that side of her a lot more than the cold one that she had for most of those two hours. In fact, it made me wonder if she was hiding her nice side behind the cold one. I was certain of it, actually. Why would she do that? Well, I'd heard that if a person had a traumatic event happen to them, they could become cold and distant toward others. Was that her case? Did something happen to her that was so traumatic that she became that cold and distant person, pushing others away and having outbursts toward them for no apparent reason? There was no way of knowing unless she told us herself, but I think that she did leave a couple of clues. One, she did say that there had been someone in her life but didn't say any more on that, and two, she had almost killed someone that she loved in a fit of anger. Those two things probably didn't mean anything and maybe weren't even connected, but they were good inroads into her life and could explain a lot by themselves. Like what had already been said before, the only way to know for sure was if she told us herself, and we already knew that she wasn't in a real hurry to do that. Maybe in time she might open up about that, but now was definitely not that time. But in thinking over all that, though, I felt that I could understand her better and maybe even see the reason why she seemed to have problems with her family. I guess that I felt really sorry for her.

The last thing that I was thinking about was our current situation. It looked like we had been extremely lucky so far, but something about that just didn't seem right. I was probably being paranoid, but I didn't think so as I was so observant about things. For one thing, we entered the facility by using the main utility tunnel and going through a door that was completely unguarded. Another thing, Ultraviolet told us that this place was crawling with guards and robots, but so far we only saw five people, two of them didn't even notice us and the other three we surprised outside the research lab. We didn't even see a sign of those robots. It would be very nice to know if it really was great luck that had gotten us this far, but I didn't think so. Everything about this whole thing was just screaming _'TRAP!', _but were we really listening? I might've been new to the super scene, but when two plus two seems to equal five, then something was seriously off. It just didn't seem possible that we could be _that _lucky, although I do admit that our biggest challenge by far lay ahead. I thought with a tiny bit of amusement and nervousness that it seemed to be playing out like a movie or videogame, where everything seems to be smooth and going your way, and then suddenly you're surrounded by your enemies and probably dead. So far the smooth and going your way part was happening, and I definitely wasn't looking forward to the being surrounded and possibly dying part. The others had to have known that something wasn't right here, especially Ultraviolet as she was the most experienced of all of us. But it seemed like they weren't sensing that, or maybe they had and were just keeping it to themselves, like I was. I mean, I could've spoken up about it right then, but what good would that do? A lot, maybe, but we were probably committed as it was. Going back was now probably just as dangerous as pressing forward. We had no choice in the matter, though. We had to go through with this and whatever happened, well, happened. I could only hope hat we were better prepared for it than last time.

I looked down at the almost blindingly polished floor in a moment of thought and saw that Chameleon's left black-gloved hand was still holding my right orange-gloved one. I was so preoccupied by my thoughts that I didn't even notice it. It was a very great and relieving feeling to know that despite all that happened, he still seemed to trust me completely. I couldn't help but form a small smile on my lips. In spite of that, though, my feelings about that were heavily tempered. I closed my eyes as the thoughts of the research lab overrode all other thoughts from my head. I could still feel the tingle of his fingers around my throat and in my hands when I was hitting him. Opening my eyes and looking at him out of the corner of my eye, I wondered what he thought about it, and about me. Before you ask, I wasn't thinking of him in _that _way. We were still strictly friends, and after all that happened, that was shocking by itself.

I looked at my free left hand and was again reminded of the power that was inside me, the exact reason why I didn't want to become a superhero in the first place. I thought of the up and down feelings that I had felt during the last day and a half. You know, that rollercoaster type of feeling you get for certain type of things, when you're happy one moment and sad the next. For me, I thought about how happy I was when I got my suit and for a few moments during this night when the others seemed to comfort and reassure me, and the lows, well, you probably know enough about them for me not to repeat them. And right now, I felt lower than…lower than…well, whatever the lowest thing that could be was, I was just below that. Yes, I felt that bad. And it felt like I was going even lower than that, like I was sinking into some self-pity quicksand that there was no escape from. The sad thing was, I didn't know if I wanted to try to escape from it. I know that it was dangerous to be feeling like that, especially at a time like this, but I didn't care. It was like I was telling myself that I deserved to feel like this, and no story told by anyone in the world was going to change that.

It was then that I dimly remembered something in my dark and gloomy filled mind. I remembered when my mother told me her story a couple nights back and she said, _'Someone once told me that we have more power than we realize.' _And then Ultraviolet told me that her own mother told her almost the exact same thing. What did that mean? Did it mean that Elastigirl said that to my mom, or maybe even Ultraviolet herself? She did say that she and my mom were not really friends, but more like friendly rivals. Whatever that meant, maybe she told Mom about that saying at one time. But since I really wasn't in the mood to go over it at that point, that little mystery was going to have to wait for another time.

I again looked down at our joined hands and let out a soft sigh through my lips. I just couldn't stop thinking that I seriously wrecked a growing friendship between us. Chameleon might have been able to take all of this in stride, but there was no way that I could. I thought about how nice and helpful he was to me, and all I ever did was yell at him, accuse him of spying on me, and even getting into a couple of physical fights with him, and even with all that behind us, he still seemed very willing to be my friend. I felt my eyes water with that thought. Did he deserve someone like me as a friend? Did I deserve him? I just didn't know. For the first time in three days, I stopped accusing him of spying. He and his younger brother only did what they had to do, something that I probably would've done if our positions were reversed. It occurred to me that I never even officially apologized for any of that, either. He probably knew that I was sorry for the thing that I've said and done, but he would probably feel better if he heard it from my own mouth, and I knew that I would feel a lot better and like a great weight had been lifted off my chest if I just said it. Since nothing was really happening at that moment, I decided that now would be the best time to say it.

And I've should've known better than to think like that.

I had just started opening my mouth to tell him how sorry I was about everything when a door ahead of us opened and out came about at least eight guards! And of course, being right out there in the middle of the hall completely exposed, it only took them maybe a half-second for them to notice us.

"Supers!" one of them yelled out.

Surprised out of my gloomy thoughts, I actually jumped back about a couple of feet. Still holding on to Chameleon's hand, I accidentally pulled him back with me. I didn't even get over that when a second surprise came. A huge door, maybe a foot or so thick, came out of the wall to our left and quickly slid across the hall to the other side with amazing speed, making a sound almost uncannily like that of a bank vault door closing when it met the other side. Chameleon and I were now sealed off from Ultraviolet, Changeling, and the guards. As if to further surprise us, a second door just behind us was also starting to close, threatening to trap us in between.

"Come on!" he shouted.

He dragged me behind him and practically threw himself through the opening, taking me with him. We just barely cleared the door before it slammed shut behind us. It was the almost perfect Indiana Jones moment, except that neither of us had a hat to reach back and grab at the last possible second. Slowly picking ourselves up off the floor, we kept looking back and forth between the door and each other, shocked by this sudden turn of events. There were words on the door that read, **_ISOLATION DOOR: LEVEL B2 SECTION 21: DO NOT OPEN WITHOUT PROPER AUTHORIZATION. _**I didn't know what that meant, and it didn't even matter. We were now separated by two very solid looking doors from Ultraviolet and Changeling at the very moment that they desperately needed our help. We couldn't hear a thing through the doors so there was no way of knowing what was happening on the other side.

'_So much for our luck holding out,' _I thought to myself.

"Are you okay?" Chameleon asked me.

"I'm fine," I answered. "You?"

"Never better," he replied.

He went over to the door and ran his hands across the door, then he held his head against it and tapped on it gently. I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Like _that _was going to open the door. I almost made some kind of smart remark to him about it, but I quickly held my tongue. He didn't need to hear anything like that from me, especially at a time like this. We did have to find a way through those two doors, through, and I didn't think that saying _'Open sesame' _was going to get them to open. If only it really was that simple.

"Do you think you could burn your way through them?" he asked me.

I looked at my hands and then at the door. I probably could melt through the doors if I got my hands hot enough. It might take a while, though, judging by how small my hands were compared to the door, how thick the door was, and the fact that I had to go through two of them. It was worth a try, and it wasn't like we had any other choice.

"I can try," I said.

I went over to the door and placed my hands on it, and that was as far as I got. Before I even had a chance to heat up my hands, Chameleon shoved me out of the way and onto the floor…just as a green laser beam shot by us and hit the door with a shower of sparks, almost right where my head was. Looking back over my shoulder, I saw what looked like a white hovering thing with two bulbous ends and two spinning propellers in between. It had the same red sensor from the saucers on its top and a glowing green laser tip just below that. It was one of the robots that Ultraviolet pointed out on her laptop, the one that we should worry about the most. What did she call it? Oh, yeah, the Hummingbird. It was definitely a strange name for such a craft. It wasn't small and cute, but it was making a humming kind of sound as it was hovering. And it seemed very fast. It appeared around a corner that we passed only a minute earlier. Maybe Hummingbird was an alright name for it, although it wouldn't have been my first choice. It seemed very, very deadly, no matter what kind of name that it had.

"Oh, hell," Chameleon said.

Exactly. It did look intimidating, and it seemed like it was zeroing in on us. The laser tip started to glow even brighter. I didn't even think about acting. I just held my hand out and shot out a fireball. It impacted with the Hummingbird right on the bottom part, causing it to explode in a bright orange and very ferocious fireball. We instinctively ducked as pieces of the robot hit the floor, wall, and door around us. Wow, I didn't think that it would explode like that, or that my own fireball would have that much of an effect. I probably shouldn't have been all that surprised though, considering what happened the last time I went up against one of these robots. What did they put in them, rocket fuel or something?

Almost immediately after I destroyed the Hummingbird, the burning remains must've triggered some kind of fire sensor, because a loud alarm sounded and red lights started flashing throughout the corridor. An automated female computer voice said, _'WARNING, FIRE DETECTED IN LEVEL B2, SECTION 22. FIRE SUPPRESSION SYSTEM ACTIVATED.' _Some sort of gas started coming down from the ceiling and spread out across the floor. The air around us quickly got colder and harder to breathe in. We had to get out of this corridor, fast.

Without saying a word, we got up from the floor and started moving quickly away from the door and back the way we came. It was hard because the more we moved, the more unbreathable the air was getting. We started gasping and coughing. Chameleon covered his nose and mouth with his hands and I did the same, but it wasn't helping any. It seemed that we would both pass out if we stayed there too much longer. We got to the corner and the destroyed robot just as the fire was put out. The gas stopped a few moments later but the air was still very thick and it was still unsafe to be in there.

We started rounding the corner…only to quickly move back as we saw four Hummingbirds moving down the corridor. They were maybe ten seconds away. We seemed to be trapped as we couldn't go back because of the door. It also looked like we couldn't fight our way out. I mean, I might be able to destroy one, maybe two, but then the others would be all over us. On top of that, I didn't think that either of us were in any condition of fighting as we were both still coughing violently and I myself was about to fall completely over. Was there any way out of this?

Surprisingly enough, there was. Right across from us was a door. There was no keypad but that didn't mean that it wasn't locked. Also, we had to go across the corridor to get to it, and right into the line of sight of those things. So that meant that if we went for the door and it was locked, we were probably dead, and if we stayed here, we were probably dead. God, I was already starting to hate these situations. Given the choice between those two, though, the door option was always going to win out every time with me. Better to try it out and be wrong than not do anything and be dead. I actually chuckled a little through my coughs. I was really starting to think like a superhero now.

We didn't have any time to waste. Grabbing Chameleon's wrist, I made a lunge for the door, pulling him with me. I grabbed the door handle, praying that it would open and we could get through it before the Hummingbirds fired on us. It was an incredible relief when the handle turned under my hand and the door opened outward. We went through the door just as the four robots opened fire at us. Two of the green bolts went by the door and the two others went _through _it, right where Chameleon was a split second earlier. We both fell down on the floor as the now holed door shut quickly behind us.

The room that we were in was completely bare, so there wasn't anything that we could hide behind. I knew that we weren't safe in there anyway. I didn't know if the Hummingbirds could actually open doors on their own, but if their weapons can go through a steel door like that, then I didn't even want to know what they could do to us. Luckily, we weren't trapped in that room as there was another door on the opposite side. We quickly got back on our feet, although I swayed a little as I was still feeling the effects of that gas. We ran, okay, more like stumbled our way to the door and opened it. It led into another bare but larger room with another door on the other side. Going through that door, we were in another corridor that was the same as the one we just came from. The red lights of the fire alarm were flashing in this one also. It was completely empty so that was good. Feeling a little dizzy, I really did fall to one knee right then.

"Come on!" Chameleon said, trying to help me back on my feet. "No rest for the weary now! We gotta move!"

"Yeah, but where?" I asked, still coughing a little.

"Um," he pondered, looking down both ways. He then pointed to our left. "This way."

"Are you sure?"

"No," he admitted. "But it's a lot better than staying here. Let's go."

He was definitely right about that. I got back up on my feet and together we half ran, half staggered our way down the corridor. I kept looking back behind us, almost expecting to see the lasers blasting their way through the door that we just came through. None came, but I wasn't willing to wait around until they did come. I guess that Chameleon did have a sense of direction, or maybe it was just dumb luck. Almost immediately after we started moving, we came to a door marked, **_STAIRS. _**He pushed the door open and we went through it. We were in a stairway that led both up and down. It was also empty. Of course, we were now faced with another directional decision.

"Well, up or down?" I asked him.

"Why are you asking me?" he asked back.

I just shrugged. "I dunno. Probably because you're so good at directions."

He chuckled. "Really? Right now I don't know where the hell we're going. I don't know this place. We're just trying to get away from those things."

"Well, you're doing a good job of it so far."

He looked at me for a moment, and then just sighed and shook his head. "You know, I don't think I'll ever figure you out," he said. He then looked up and down a few times. "Well, I guess we could go up," he decided. "And before you ask, I'm not sure. I'm kinda playing it by ear here."

I suppose that was as good a choice as any. We slowly went up, our footsteps echoing a little too loudly off the metal stairs and the concrete walls. I didn't know if those Hummingbirds had great hearing along with their deadly lasers, but it probably wouldn't have been a good idea to make any more noise to try and find out. We went up one level and then Chameleon stopped at the door. It was marked, **_LEVEL B1. _**He reached out, grabbed the doorknob, and slowly pulled open the door. He peered out for a second and then stuck his head back in.

"It's clear," he said.

We left the stairwell and came out into another identical corridor. God, did these levels follow some kind of generic floor plan or something? It was already starting to drive me crazy just by its similarity. And just like the floor below, the fire alarm and lights were going off up here. That explosion must've set off the alarms in the entire facility. Well, if the people that took over this place didn't know that we were here, they did now. I guess that now put our chances of successfully pulling this off to somewhere around nil, maybe even below that. It wasn't like it was that much better before the alarms, though.

"Man, Jess," Chameleon said. "Next time, try to destroy one of those robots away from any fire sensors, would you?"

"Well, jeez," I shot back. "It wasn't like I wanted to set off all the alarms in this place."

"Okay, okay, let's not get into this," he said. "Let's find a place to hide out for a moment until it blows over."

"Um, I really don't think it'll just blow over."

"No, but it might cool down a bit. They're probably still looking for us on the level below. Come on."

We went straight down the corridor, trying out a few doors while being as quiet as possible. Of course, any one of those doors could've had a whole squad of guards or a lot of robots, but it seemed to be a risk that we were willing to take. The first two doors that we tried were locked, but the third one opened right up. The third time always seemed to be the charm. It looked to be some kind of storage room with boxes and crates piled high. There wasn't anyone in it, so we slipped inside and carefully closed the door behind us.

"Can you make your hands glow a moment?" he asked.

I gave him a curious look. "Why?"

"Just to light our way," he said as he reached over and hit the light switch on the other side of the door, plunging the room into complete darkness. "It's in case they look in here."

I made my hands glow just enough to see where we were going. The room was bathed in a very eerie orange light. We walked carefully around the crates until we were at the back of the room. We then sat down on the hard concrete floor with our backs to the wall. I stopped the glow and the room went back into darkness.

"So how long do you think we should hide out in here?" I asked.

"I don't know," he told me. "Hopefully not all that long."

"Do you think that Ultraviolet and Chance are alright?" I couldn't help but think that we abandoned them to fight eight guards by themselves while I knew that clearly wasn't the case.

"I really hope so," he said. "I feel really bad leaving them like that, but we didn't have much of a choice in the matter."

"I know, but both of them against eight fully armed guards…" I trailed off with that.

"We really don't know what happened behind those doors," he said. "If Ultraviolet was as great as she was against those three guards outside the research lab, then they probably would've had a pretty good chance. If not, then…who knows."

I heard him sigh in the dark. It was clear that this was affecting him badly. I reached out and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I really hope your brother's alright, Leon," I told him softly.

He put his hand over mine. "I hope so, too," he said. "It's so frustrating just sitting here and not knowing what happened. I don't think he's dead or anything. He's with Ultraviolet, and she's a highly experienced super. Maybe they beat those guards and are trying to find us."

He didn't really sound so sure when he said that. This must've been incredibly hard on him, not knowing what happened to his younger brother behind those two isolation doors. Being an only child myself, I could probably never know the feeling of having a younger sibling in danger. All I could really do was sympathize with him and offer moral support. There was the real chance that they were dead, even though I didn't want to think it. They could've been captured, like my mother was. There was also the chance that he was right, that they had beaten those eight guards and were going around the facility looking for us. After all, there was no way that they knew what happened to us, either. But what if they thought that we were dead? Then what would they do? Would they try to destroy the missiles without us? We just didn't know anything until we found out what happened to them.

"Do you really think we could pull this off?" I asked out loud. "Destroy those missiles and save Metroville?"

"I don't know, to be honest," he admitted. "I would like to think that we could with little or no problems, but all of it seems so big, almost impossible."

"So you've been thinking like that, too, huh?" I said.

"Yeah. It's kind of hard not to. I mean, meeting up with Ultraviolet improved our chances quite a bit, but so much about this is still so dark. We still don't even know why that guy's doing this to begin with. It's really hard to predict the outcome of this if we don't even know what's going on behind the scenes."

"Tell me about it," I agreed.

"Besides," he went on. "We might have to try to get to at least a couple of the missiles without both of them, though. I know, I'm not looking forward to it, either, but I think that we have to eventually try. And if we can't get to them, then maybe we could try and free your mother. Maybe then she could help us out.

"She looked unconscious when we saw her," I said. "But I think that we should try to help her out anyway, if not for her to help us out, then to give her the chance to get out of here."

"Good idea." He sighed again. "Well, I guess it's all settled then."

"Are you scared?" I asked him.

"Terrified," he told me. "You?"

"Same."

He started chuckling after that and a moment later I joined him. You know that rollercoaster feeling I was talking about earlier, the one that goes up and down depending on your mood to a situation? I felt it starting to go up again, but only very, very slowly. I wasn't feeling that much better yet. I then remembered how I was just about to apologize to him about everything when all of this went down. I felt like I really had to tell him that before anything else happened, so it was probably best if I told him that right then.

"Leon," I said slowly. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" He sounded kind of surprised. "For what?"

"For the way that I've been acting towards you these past few days. I mean, all you ever did was try and help me out, and all I've done was yell and scream at you, accuse you of spying, and almost choking you to death in the mall."

"Don't forget trying to kill me inside the research lab," he added almost like a joke.

"Look, I'm trying to be serious here," I told him. "Anyway, ever since you called me and telling me that you knew that I was a super, I just had all these huge emotions inside me, and it brought out a huge temper that I forgot that I used to have, and I turned it loose mostly against you for no real reason. I'm really sorry that I did that and hope that you can forgive me."

"It's no big deal," he said almost casually.

I was completely shocked when he said that. "No big deal? How can you say that?"

"Because it's not," he said. "Look, Jess, if there's anything that my family taught me, well, my aunt and uncle's side anyway, it's forgiveness. I think you know the reason why. I've forgiven you right after that little incident at the mall. Okay, it did take a little while as I was kind of upset. I mean, you threatened to choke me, punch my face in, and burn it off at the same time, for crying out loud. But I forgave you for that, and everything else. I've just accepted that as part of your character. I'm almost positive that you'll do your best to tick me off again sometime and it'll probably work, but I know it's who you are and I'll forgive you. So don't worry about it, okay? Besides, Chance was right and we are friends now, and I really would like to continue being your friend."

I was stunned silent for a long time then I finally said, "Thank you. You don't know how much that means to me." Just like I did with Ultraviolet, I reached over and gave him a huge hug. He hugged me back and we stayed like that for a while.

Suddenly, we heard running footsteps outside the door. It sounded like there were a lot of them. We quickly separated and looked toward the door, even through it was dark and we were behind a few rows of boxes and crates. I held my breath and prayed that they wouldn't search this room. I was really relieved when the footsteps continued on past the door without stopping, and I thought that I heard a couple of voices, but I couldn't tell what they were saying. I didn't care, though, as long as they kept heading away from us. When the footsteps faded away, I let out the breath that I was holding in a whoosh. That was extremely close.

We remained quiet for a while until Chameleon said, "Maybe it might be a good idea if we stayed in here for a little while longer."

"Yeah," I agreed.

We were quiet again for a few moments and then he asked in a very hesitant voice, "Jess, can I ask you something a little personal? I mean, you don't have to answer it if you don't want to. It's just something that I'm really curious about."

"What is it that you want to ask me?" I asked, now curious myself about what he wanted to ask.

"It's just something that's been bugging me ever since we first met. As I said, you don't have to answer it. Anyway, I would like to know what really happened that day you burned that kid's cheek, if you don't mind talking about it."

"You want to know about that?" I asked him in surprise.

"Well, yeah," he replied. "I've only heard one part of the story, and I would like to hear your side of it."

"Where did you hear about that, anyway?"

"From Ultraviolet. She brought that up when she told us about you."

"But where did she hear it from?"

"Who knows. As I said before, rumors do get out, especially when it involves supers. Anyway, I would like to hear the story from you. I understand that it's probably hard for you to want to talk about it, but I've heard that if you do talk about things like that, it would make you feel a lot better. Kind of like getting a huge weight off your chest. And don't worry, I'm not going to judge you or anything. I already know that it had to be accidental. I would just like to hear about it, that's all."

That was something that I didn't want to ever bring back up. It was a very clear reminder of the powers inside me. It was just as painful now as it was four years ago. Not to mention that it was the main reason why I never wanted to become a superhero. It was making me wonder what was I even doing here at all. It was why I knew that I was so dangerous to everyone around me. Chris saw it, the two robbers at the mall saw it, and Chameleon saw it. It was only through sheer luck that I didn't kill them. Granted, three of them were wearing protective suits, but it was the moment I slapped and burned Chris' cheek on that day that made the most impact. And even though I've already used my powers quite a few times during the last few hours, I still hated doing it. It was like every time I used them, it just made that memory all the more worse. I knew that just about every time that I did use them, it was in self-defense, but that didn't help one bit. I kept thinking that it was a huge mistake for me to be here, regardless of what the others were saying. My powers were always going to be dangerous, and I probably was going to be haunted by that day for the rest of my life. Nothing anyone could say or do was ever going to change that. It was still debatable when all this was said and done, if we were still alive, if I would do it again.

On the other hand, he did have a point. I also heard that saying. It didn't make much sense, though. How could talking about something that terrible make you feel better afterwards? It would seem that bringing up such painful memories would make you feel a lot worse. It was maybe because you would be talking about something that you had kept bottled up inside you for so long, almost like opening up a two liter of soda just to release the pressure. In fact, when I finally told my mother what really happened on that day, I did feel a little better, and I knew that I had to tell Dad the same thing later on. Maybe telling Chameleon would make feel me feel even better. Besides, I think that he deserved to know the truth as well. I made my decision.

"Okay," I said.

I readjusted myself on the floor, took a deep breath, and closed my eyes, willingly bringing up those memories inside my mind. I then started telling him the story. "It was a cool, rainy day. I was ten and was just about a month into the fifth grade. I was walking home from school since I didn't live all that far from it. I was happy because I had passed my first test of the year. I was barely two blocks from home when that boy, Chris Andrews, came up behind me and started messing with me. He was nothing but a real bully, always wanting to pick on everyone in the class, especially the girls. Probably because he thought that we were weaker than him. So he keeps messing with me, and I keep telling him to stop it, and he just laughs and continues pulling on my hair and mocking me. I kept getting angrier and angrier, and then…" I stopped then and drew a very shaky breath.

"Hey, it's okay," Chameleon said gently. "You don't have to continue with this."

"No," I said quickly. "I want to tell you. I need to finish this." I drew in another shaky breath and continued on. "Anyway, that was when I turned around and slapped him hard across his face. I was happy when I did that. I figured that would shut him up for good. But he quickly screamed and grabbed the side of his face, saying how much it was burning. I didn't know what happened at first. I was thinking that he was making too big of a deal over a little slap. You know you hear about how bullies love to inflict pain on other people but too afraid to take pain themselves. I needed to make sure, though, so I pried his hands away from his face, and that was when I saw the burn. It looked like he had his face pressed up against a hot plate. I was totally stunned. I didn't mean to do that to him. I didn't even know how I did it. I tried to apologize to him but he yelled at me to keep away from him and took off down the street."

"That's how it really happened?" Chameleon asked.

"Exactly," I replied.

"I would say that he almost deserved it, but I know how hard it must've been on you."

"It was more than hard, it was practically tragic," I told him. "And no, he didn't deserve it. Sure, he was a bully and probably needed to have some sense knocked into him, but he in no way deserved that. No one does. Anyway, you're the second person as in many days that I told that to. I finally told my mother what happened during what went on at the mall. Yeah, I never told my parents what I did the day it happened. I kept it all to myself and that was also when I swore that I would never use them again."

"Do you think you could've kept a vow like that for the rest of your life?" he asked me.

"I thought I was well on my way of doing just that," I replied. "It has been four years. Honestly, I don't know. Maybe I would've used my powers again, but it would've been years down the road and not this soon."

"Was that also the same day that you learned you had powers?"

"No. I found out about them just two months earlier by accident. I was climbing the tree in our backyard when I slipped and fell. I found myself hovering about a foot off the ground with this weird aura around my body. I actually thought that I had died and was an angel." He chuckled a little bit and I did as well. I then went on. "Believe it or not, that was actually the happiest day of my life. I always wanted to have powers before then, so it was like a wish had been granted when I found out that I did have them."

"You know, I can't really picture you ever being happy about your powers," he said.

"I know," I agreed. "But you only know this side of me. If you knew me back then, that would probably be quite surprised."

He was silent for a moment, and then he said, "So do you feel better now that you told me that story?"

I thought about it for a few seconds, then said, "I can't say. I mean, I probably should. Maybe it's just that I'm not used to thinking and telling others about it yet. Perhaps in time, I'll start feeling better, but not yet."

"Don't worry, I'm here to help you out," he encouraged.

"I know, and thank you," I told him. Then with a small smile I said, "Okay, now that we're playing This Is Your Life, why don't you tell me more about yourself? Now you have me curious about you."

"Oh, no, you don't want to know about me," he said jokingly.

"Oh, yeah, I do. Come on, tell me. Your life couldn't have been all that bad, or was it? That might explain why you act the way you do." I giggled. "Wow, now I really want to hear about it."

"Okay, I give up," he said. "So you want to hear about me, huh? Just remember, you asked for it. What do you want me to tell you about?"

"How about when you first discovered your powers," I suggested.

"Alright. I was five at the time. Me and a group of friends were playing hide-and-seek in a wooded area not far from my house. Yeah, very ironic, isn't it? Anyway, I was hiding in this big bush and I remember thinking how it would be really neat if I could just disappear so I really would be hiding. I then just happened to look to my right, and saw that my whole right arm was gone."

So that was how you knew you could disappear, I mean, blend into the environment?" I said. "Interesting. What happened next?"

"Well, I did what any five-year-old kid would do. I screamed out at the top of my lungs. Everyone came running over to me asking what happened. I kept yelling, _'My arm's gone! My arm's gone!' _And they were like, _'What do you mean your arm's gone? Both of them are right there.' _I looked down and sure enough, there were both my arms, looking as normal as ever. I kept trying to say that my right arm wasn't there a moment earlier, but they thought I was playing some kind of joke with them. So after the game ended and everyone else went home, I stayed behind trying to figure out what was going on. I knew what I saw under that bush. I remembered how I was thinking that I wished I was invisible. I looked down and now saw that both my arms were gone. I didn't panic that time and just took a closer look. I saw then that they were still there, but it was like I could see right through them, almost like they were ghost images. I knew enough about supers at that age to figure out that I had to be one myself. Just like you, it was the happiest day of my life as well."

"But you still couldn't tell your parents about yourself," I said.

"No, unfortunately," he replied. "Even at five, I knew just how much they hated supers. I remembered the huge fight they had with my aunt and uncle and terrified what they would do to me if they knew that I was a super. Believe me, things seemed a lot scarier at five than now at sixteen. I did experiment a lot, though, mostly in my room, and in the buff…"

"Whoa, way too much info there!" I interrupted.

He laughed a little bit. "Yeah, maybe, but it was the only way that I could see what I really could do. I mean, I had no clothes that could change with me. I finally told my aunt and uncle two years later, right around when Chance found out about his own powers. I knew they would be very understanding, and they were. Since then, they helped us learn more about our powers, trained us on how to fight criminals, and eventually got us our own suits. We still have yet to be signed up with the NSA, though. I guess they thought that our first real mission was still a few years away."

"Have you both ever been afraid of your powers, like me?" I asked him.

"Not really," he said. "There's nothing really dangerous about it, unless I go invisible in a busy street and get run down by a car or something. Chance probably was, though. He could change into a tiny animal that could be snatched up by a predator if he was outside. Besides, we've used them enough times to not be afraid of them. I would say that you shouldn't be afraid of your powers, but I won't since you probably heard that a lot."

"Good." I asked him another question. "Was Chameleon always your super name?"

"No. My uncle was the one who suggested that name about two years ago. I did have a name from when I was five to ten, but, um, I don't think you want to hear it."

"Why not?" I asked.

"Because it's really stupid," he replied.

"Come on, what was it?" I prodded.

"No, I really don't want to mention it."

"Oh, come on. Fess up. What was it?"

He sighed loudly. "You're not going to let this go, are you?"

"Not a chance," I said with a small grin.

"Okay. Promise me you won't laugh."

"I won't."

He sighed again. "The Really Awesome, Radical, and Dashing Invisible Dude."

My eyes widened and my mouth dropped to the floor. No way! He was **_NOT _**serious! "You're not serious!"

"I am, unfortunately," he said lowly.

I couldn't help it. The laughter exploded from my mouth. Within seconds, I was literally rolling on the floor laughing my head off. I couldn't stop it if I wanted to.

I heard him groan over my laughs. "I just knew you were going to laugh," he mumbled.

"I'm…I'm sorry!" I breathed out, trying desperately to control my laughter and failing miserably. "It's just…that's the most…stupid super name…I've ever heard in my life!"

"Hey, I was five when I came up with that name, alright?" he said defensively. "A lot of the things that we said and thought were stupid back then."

I was finally able to put a lid on my laughter and moved back into a sitting position back along the wall. "Were you high on Play-Doh or something back then to come up with a name like that?"

"I really thought it was a cool name back then. Besides, I'm sure you probably had a weird name for yourself when you were dreaming of being a super."

"Well, um…" And I already knew that I said too much.

"Ah ha!" he said and I heard the smile in his voice. "Here you were ragging on me about my bad super name when you had one yourself. Okay, come on. Out with it."

"Aw, do I have to?" I complained.

"Yeah, you have to."

I sighed. "Oh, fine. I guess it's only fair, huh? I used to call myself Super Jess."

"Super Jess?" It was now Chameleon's turn to laugh. "Oh, yeah, that's _real _original!"

"Hey, it's still a million times better than The Really Awesome, Radical, and Dashing Invisible Dude," I protested.

"I suppose so," he said when he was finished laughing. He did let out one last chuckle, though. "Can you imagine it if we still kept those names? I could just hear it now, _'NOW INTRODUCTING THE TWO NEWEST SUPERS IN METROVILLE, SUPER JESS AND THE REALLY AWESOME, RADICAL AND DASHING INVISIBLE DUDE.' _No one would take us seriously."

"You mean, they wouldn't take _you _seriously," I told him. "I'll keep my name Phoenicia, thank you very much. You can keep your ridiculously long name."

"Oh, no," he countered. "I like Chameleon. Besides, Super Jess can actually make things easier for you. Maybe it'll help you beat your enemies when they're too busy laughing at your name."

"Yeah, and maybe you can beat your enemies when they're too busy just trying to say your name."

We were both really laughing now. I was feeling a lot better now. Maybe this was just exactly what I needed, a really good laugh. We were then really quiet for a while. We were probably thinking about what we had said to each other. I know that I was. I felt like I knew Chameleon a lot better than before. Maybe we could really depend on one another and get through this by ourselves. Not to mention, I was really going to be teasing him about that name for a long time.

Chameleon finally said, "Well, I think it's about that time. We've been in here a while and I didn't hear anything outside. Besides, we're running out of time."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," I said. That quickly reminded me why we were here in this place. It didn't seem fair as we seemed to be having a good time a moment earlier, but I knew that he was right. We had a job to do, and if we couldn't get to Ultraviolet and Changeling, we had to try to get to at least a couple of the missiles before they launched. And maybe, we could rescue both my parents in the process.

We both started to get up, but Chameleon must've stumbled on something as he fell right on me and we both fell to the floor with him landing on top of me.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Fine," I replied. "You?"

"Fine."

It was then that I noticed that we were in a rather, well, compromising position. My face was probably the hottest it ever got. Remember, I wasn't thinking of him in _that _way. "Um, Leon?" I said slowly.

"Yes?" he answered.

"Can you, um…can you, uh, get off me, please?"

"Oh, sorry!" He quickly got to his feet and helped me up on mine.

I was just about to make my hands glow again so that we could see our way out of here when we heard more footsteps outside. This time, though, they stopped right at the door and then it opened. The lights came on a moment later, blinding us as we were used to the darkness. We quickly but very quietly took cover behind a row of crates as the footsteps came into the room. It sounded like it was one person and he or she was headed our way. Chameleon signaled to me with his hands that we should ambush the person. It did make some sense. It was the two of us against one person. But what if there were others outside the door? It was a chance that we had to take. I nodded and we got ready to attack. If the person was coming to the back of the room, then they had only one way to go, and we were right there. The person wouldn't see us until it was too late. The footsteps were now in the next row and coming closer. I took one last breath.

The person appeared around the corner and we quickly struck, grabbing him and pulling him down to the floor. The guy let out a startled yelp as he suddenly found himself on the floor. Chameleon got on top of him and held his arms behind his back while clamping a hand over his mouth. I grabbed the man's legs so he couldn't try to escape or kick at us. It was then that our eyes adjusted to the light and we could see better. When we saw who we had caught, we both gasped out loud.


	21. Enter Devin Woods

_Author's note: Well, another day, another update. Enjoy and review._

**Chapter 21**

I remember one very weird summer afternoon when I was about eight years old. I was walking home after spending the night and most of the day over at Allison's house. Just as I was rounding the corner of my street, a pair of hands reached these big bushes that lined the corner and pulled me through them. I'm still shocked to this day that the scream that came from my throat didn't shatter nearby windows or streetlights. Two people immediately climbed onto my back, holding both my arms and legs as well as covering my mouth. When I heard them laugh, my fear immediately changed to anger. It was none other than my two slightly older cousins who had just arrived from out of town, unfortunately. I hated them with an intense passion. It was like the only purpose in their miserable little lives was to make mine as much a living hell as possible. I've never figured out why they treated me like that. It was like they wanted me to really hate them, that they didn't want any trace of a normal relationship between us. They did a really good job of it, too. Believe me, it takes a lot for me to truly hate someone, even if they constantly tick me off. And even if I did, I still wouldn't hate them more than those two spawns of Satan. In fact, they're probably the only two people in the world that I probably wouldn't mind using my powers on. I wouldn't kill them outright or anything, although the temptation is very strong. Maybe just warming up their butts would change their attitudes toward me.

Okay, you're probably wondering what does that have to do with was going on in right then in the room. Well, nothing really. I guess that I was just reminded of it since what Chameleon and I did to this guy and what my two cousins did to me six years earlier were so similar. We were immediately confused by this person that we caught, probably the reason why we both gasped out loud in the first place. The first, main, and probably only thing was that this man certainly didn't look like a guard, unless wearing a dark gray and very expensive looking business suit was the newest fashion statement for mercenary guards. He had auburn hair that was neatly cut and groomed. He looked to be maybe somewhere in his late thirties or forties, but it was hard to tell since he was face down and Chameleon's hand was covering his mouth and part of his lower face. Even with that, he did look a little handsome. He didn't seem to be putting up much of a fight but he was making muffled noises through his mouth.

Chameleon and I kept looking back and forth between the man and each other. It was fairly obvious that both of us didn't know what to make of this guy. He didn't look dangerous but we didn't let down our guard at all. Besides the two of us, Ultraviolet, Changeling, and my parents, anyone here in this place could be a threat. We really couldn't afford to take any unnecessary chances. So if this man wasn't a guard, then who exactly was he? I don't think that it was Harriman himself as I kind of knew what he looked like. I could tell that Chameleon didn't know who this guy was either from the look on his face. Of course, we could just ask him who he was. Could it really be that simple? Unfortunately, just about everything that happened tonight hadn't been, so even that might've been too much of a stretch. We had to do something, though. The longer we held on to him like this, the more he might try to break free and escape. Chameleon realized this as well.

"Alright," he said to the man. "I'm going to let go of your mouth, but only if you promise not to yell or run away. That's the last thing you want to do, anyway. My friend here is very talented with fire, and she'll happily demonstrate her abilities for you if you do, understand?" He gave me a quick sympathetic look right after he said that. He knew that I wouldn't do a thing like that, especially to someone who didn't have protection. I knew that he said that to keep the man under control, as long as he didn't know that. He went on. "Nod if you agree."

The man didn't move for a moment and then he slowly nodded his head. We looked at each other one last time and then Chameleon slowly removed his hand. We still had a hold on his arms and legs in case he really tried to do something. He tried to twist his head around so he could see us through what looked like very nervous blue eyes.

"You…you're supers," he said slowly. "Who are you?"

Chameleon answered him. "My name's Chameleon. My partner here is Phoenicia. And who are you?"

"Um, I'm Devin Woods," he replied. "I'm the vice-president of ATI."

"_What?" _Chameleon and I almost shouted at the same time.

This guy that we were holding down to the floor was the _vice-president of ATI? _How was that possible? I never saw the vice-president of the company, so there was no way that I could confirm if what he was saying was the truth. All we had to go by was his word, and sometimes that isn't enough, especially in situations like these. Ultraviolet did tell us that the vice-president had been captured along with everyone else in the facility. So if this person really was the vice-president, then what was he doing here? Did he escape from his captors and was trying to hide somewhere? Were they trying to track him down? Would he actually lead them to us if not careful? Only he could answer those questions. Still, there was something strange about this man that I couldn't pinpoint exactly. It wasn't like he was acting suspiciously or anything like that, but it was just some kind of inner feeling. However, since it seemed like everything that was going on wasn't what it appeared to be, it could be nothing more than a case of over judging and maybe even paranoia. But whether or not there was something wrong with him, I still thought that it would probably be a good idea if we kept some information to ourselves. Who knows what could happen if we told him certain things.

"Look, I know this might seem very strange and suspicious to you," he told us in a voice that I swore had a desperate tone to it. "You have to believe me, though. I am the vice-president of this company, and before you say anything, I have nothing to do with what's happening here. I'm totally innocent. I was taken along with everyone else in this place. Can you let me up, please?"

Chameleon and I again looked at each other for a few moments. It was very difficult to tell if he was lying or not. Would it be a good idea to let him go? Besides telling us that he was the vice-president of ATI, we didn't know a thing about him. He was taller than both of us for one, and probably stronger even though we had a tight hold on him. It didn't look like he was hiding anything under his suit. It was hard to tell anyway as his suit was a little loose fitting, but it looked like he didn't have a weapon or anything. But just because he didn't have a weapon on him meant that he wasn't dangerous. For all we knew, he was some kung-fu master or something. But we also knew that we couldn't hold him down forever and would have to let him go sometime. We had no choice. Chameleon nodded his head and we both let go of Devin and stood up on our feet. Devin slowly got up on his and rubbed his arm.

"You were a little rough on me there," he told us.

"Sorry about that," Chameleon said. "But we had to make sure you wouldn't try anything to us. There's no such thing as being too careful inside this place."

"Believe me, I know." He then seemed to study us even closer. "You said your names are Chameleon and Phoenicia, right? I don't think I've ever heard of you two before."

"That's because we're a little new to the super scene," Chameleon admitted.

"New, huh? Forgive me, but you two look very young to be supers. Is it possible for me to ask why you are here?"

"We're here to rescue my m…Electricia and the others from this place and save Metroville from those missiles," I told him. I almost slipped up and said my mother, but I caught myself in time. Call it being overly cautious or whatever, but I didn't want him to know that she was my mother just yet. Chameleon gave me a strange look for a split second and then turned back to Devin.

"Can you tell us what happened here?" he asked.

"It all happened so fast," he replied. "I was here on routine business and was just about to head back to the main corporate office when the CEO, John Harriman, entered the facility with dozens of people equipped with our experimental weapons and body armor and announced that he was taking over. He killed a few people who questioned him, including the Director of Operations for this place. He's having just about everyone else work on those missiles. He had me locked up in an office. I was finally able to escape after a few hours and was trying to find a hiding place, and I guess that's how I ran into you."

"Do you know why he's doing this?"

"No, I don't. It was totally out of the blue. I probably should've known that something was happening, though, especially in the last few days. He did a lot of things that didn't make any sense, like moving people from all over the corporation to this facility and keeping them here for at least a couple of days as well as having a lot of equipment shipped here. I just don't know why he's doing this. It doesn't make any sense at all."

"Tell me about it," Chameleon agreed. "It seems like no one knows the real reason behind this whole thing."

"Do you know how Electricia got captured?" I asked Devin.

"Not really," he said. "I wasn't in the best position to know that. From what I heard, she was fighting with a few of John's men just outside the facility when she was hit bit one of our UCAVs, a Specter, I think. It just knocked her out and she was brought inside. I don't know how she's doing now."

"Do you know where she's being held?"

"I think she's in the northwest warehouse," he told me. "It's almost directly on the other side of the facility from where we are. I imagine that it's heavily guarded."

"This whole place is heavily guarded if you didn't notice," Chameleon said.

"I suppose so," Devin said. "Again, forgive me for asking, but are you the only two supers here? I'm not doubting your abilities or anything. It just seems like this would be impossible for two new and young supers to handle on their own."

That seemed to be a very iffy question. I didn't know if we should tell him about Changeling and Ultraviolet and how we had been separated from them, not to mention that I dare didn't want to say that we had also been thinking the same thing that it looked impossible for us to do by ourselves. It was very well known that supers were supposed to project an aura of braveness and selflessness. I didn't know exactly what the two of us were projecting to Devin, but I didn't think it was either one of those.

Chameleon did answer his question, despite my reluctance. "There are two others here but we lost contact with them."

Devin seemed kind of surprised by that. "Lost contact? What do you mean by that?"

"Just that. We were separated and we don't know what happened to them."

"I see. Do you think they're still alive?"

Chameleon was quiet for a few seconds and then said, "We don't know. We hope they are."

We were all quiet then. I still didn't think it was a good idea that Chameleon told him that Changeling and Ultraviolet were here, but at least he didn't mention them by name. So as far as Devin was concerned, there were two other young and inexperienced supers here, although that was half right. So the main question now was, with the vice-president of the company with us, what exactly do we do now?

"So what do you two intend to do now?" Devin asked us. "I noticed that you have our experimental EMP weapons around your belts. Were you going to use them for something?"

I looked down and saw the mine still tied around my belt. In all the excitement that happened, I forgot that I still had it. Would it be a good idea to tell him what we intended to do with them, though?

He probably took our silence as reluctance to tell him because he then tried to convince us to trust him. "I know that I have to do a lot to earn your trust, but believe me, I'm totally on your side. I want all this to end as much as you do. I also can help you out a lot. I know this place like the back of my hand. I know exactly where the missiles are. I can get you to them along ways that aren't even guarded. As I said, I know you don't trust me, but can you really afford to pass this up? What do you say?"

After a long silence Chameleon said to him, "Can you excuse us for a moment?"

Chameleon took my hand and led me to the front of the room. Once there, he looked back to see if it was clear and then whispered to me in a very low voice so that Devin couldn't hear him, "Do you trust him?"

"No, I don't," I whispered back to him.

"Neither do I, but he's also right about a couple of things. He does know this place a lot better than either one of us, and we can't afford to pass that up. We don't have much time left to stop the missiles."

"I know, but how do we know he won't be leading us into some sort of trap or something?"

"We don't, but I think we might have to chance it."

"Okay, so let's say he's really being honest and could lead us to the missiles. Then what? We only have two mines on us. We could probably destroy two of the missiles but that leaves two more."

"Then that would be two less to worry about. Besides, we can hope that Changeling and Ultraviolet can get to them."

"That is if they haven't been captured or killed yet."

He rolled his eyes. "Gee, are you the ever so optimistic one."

I sighed. "I'm sorry I said that."

"Yeah. But anyway, do you think we should trust him?"

I took a while to respond to that. "I don't know, but I think we may have to."

"I agree." He then leaned in and whispered into my ear in an even lower voice. "Don't worry, Jess. He doesn't know you hate your powers. Keep him thinking that you won't hesitate to use them if he tries anything and it might keep him honest, okay?"

I nodded very slowly. "Okay."

"So I guess it's settled then."

"I just hope we're making the right decision."

"I hope so, too."

With the decision made, we went back to the end of the room. Devin was busy looking at a crate on an overhead shelf. It was hard to tell if he was acting suspiciously. It didn't look like it and the crate that he was looking at didn't seem strange. Still, the two of us didn't trust him enough as it was and things like that could make it worse. He seemed a little startled when we reappeared.

"Okay, it's a deal," Chameleon told him. "You're right, by the way. We don't trust you. And you're also right that we don't have much of a choice. But remember what I said earlier, my friend is very skilled with fire and she won't hesitate to show you if you try anything funny. Understand?"

"I understand," he said, looking at me closely. I did my best to put on a brave face. I was hoping that he couldn't see through that lie.

"Okay, then. You know this place better than us, so I would like for you to lead. We'll protect you."

Devin chuckled silently. "I was counting on that."

"Alright," Chameleon said and then asked, "Do you have the time?"

"Sure," Devin replied and looked at the watch on his left arm. "It's twenty minutes till four."

Chameleon sighed. "Not much time left. Well, let's do it. I suppose you should go ahead and lead on."

I could swear that Devin looked a little nervous for a moment, but he slowly nodded his head. I suppose I couldn't blame him for being nervous as he probably never done anything like this before. So in a way, the three of us were in the same boat. Hopefully that boat wouldn't sink with us in it.

Slowly, very slowly, Devin started walking around the crates and boxes and toward the door to the room. We followed right behind him. It wasn't like we were scared of him or anything. I can't say that I really was scared, more like uneasy, not to mention I didn't trust him. That was probably the main reason why we kept behind him.

When we got to the door, Devin slowly reached out his hand and grabbed the knob. It took a second for me to notice that my hands were already partly up in a defensive position. It was probably my overactive imagination, but I kept thinking that anyone or anything could be on the other side of that door. Anything seemed possible inside this place and I had to be ready.

When he finally did open the door, we saw that there were no guards or robots waiting for us. That brought only slight relief, though. We knew that they were somewhere, no doubt looking for us. I again thought of Ultraviolet and Changeling and wondered if they were doing the same, if they somehow managed to escape from the eight guards to begin with. Maybe we'll find them somewhere.

Stepping out into the corridor, we saw that it was still empty. I also noticed that the fire alarm and flashing red lights were off. It was nice that someone turned it off, but as we already knew, everyone here had been alerted to our presence the moment it went off. That also got me thinking about something. Usually in most businesses and even some homes, the fire alarm system was directly connected to the fire department so that they knew something was up the moment the alarm went off. For a split second I thought with some hope that it was the case here and that the fire department was probably on its way. I then remembered unfortunately that this place was supposed to be cut off from the rest of the outside world, and that most likely included fire alarm systems. In the very unlikely case that it wasn't, the people that took over this place probably already told the fire department that it was a false alarm and then disconnected the system. So it looked like we were still on our own for now. So much for wishful thinking.

Devin started walking to his right, well, more like quickly tiptoeing to his right. It was probably because the shoes he was wearing would make a lot of unneeded noise on a floor like this. We followed, carefully watching around us so that we wouldn't walk into another ambush like earlier. We didn't go all that far as we quickly came to a small door. Devin pulled out a set of keys from his pocket, holding onto them so that they wouldn't jingle loudly. He searched for the right key, inserted it into the lock and opened the door. We went inside and he closed the door quietly behind us. It looked like we were in some kind of service corridor. It had almost the same, although smaller and more toned down, architecture as the main ones, even right down to that annoying blue lighting, even if it was softer and dimmer.

"God, what is up with this place?" I meant to think, but accidentally said out loud.

"What do you mean?" Devin asked, turning to me.

"Huh?" I realized that I just said that out loud. "Oh, um…I meant the style of these hallways and the blue lighting. They look like corridors you'd find on a spaceship or something."

"Yeah, I noticed that, too," Chameleon joined in. "Who was the architect of this place, E.T.?"

He chuckled softly. "Yeah, it almost looks a little alien, doesn't it? Well, it's the way the final plans were. Make it look a little futuristic, kind of like our motto, _'Bringing the Future to Today's World'. _I do admit though that it has been a little too much for some people. As for the blue lighting, it's in night mode."

"Night mode?" Chameleon repeated, an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah. At eleven every night most of the normal lights in this facility switch to blue for a couple of reasons. One, it saves on the power bills since there's not very many people here at that time and two, it acts like a clock, almost like a simulated night."

"Doesn't it drive you crazy, though?" I kind of blurted out unintentionally.

"No, why?" He gave me a curious look. "You don't like the color blue or something?"

"No, that's not it, although I might start to hate it if I spent any time here. Forget it, it's really nothing."

We didn't say anything else as he led us down the service hallway and then up a couple flights of extremely narrow and steep steps at the end. There was a door at the top, but before we reached it, we heard more running footsteps coming from the other side. Chameleon moved in front of Devin and I joined him as the footsteps unfortunately stopped right in front of the door. I couldn't help but groan slightly and slowly shake my head. This was the second time this had happened tonight, that guards or whoever they were had stopped right by our hiding spot. And I thought that things like this happened in those stupid cartoons. Hopefully those people acted just as stupidly as their cartoon counterparts and didn't search the most obvious place right next to them. We then heard a voice, although the door muffled it.

"This is Reynolds. There's no sign of them here. We're expanding our search to most of the eastern areas."

"_Roger." _That voice sounded like it was coming through a walkie-talkie. _"Remember, the boss wants the supers taken alive if possible. Only kill them if you have to."_

"Yeah, yeah, Reynolds out. Alright, you three go down that way. The rest of us will go this way. Search everywhere. They have to be somewhere in this complex. If you see them, use your non-lethals first. Only kill them if that doesn't work."

"I still don't see the point of that," a deep-voiced guy said. "Why take them alive? We should kill them on sight. Any super is a threat to the plan. They're very resourceful and keeping them alive only increases the chance of them stopping us."

"Look, I don't know how the boss thinks," that other guy, Reynolds, I guess, told him. "He just wants them caught alive. He supposedly has plans for them. You have your orders, men. Move out."

The footsteps moved away until we couldn't hear them anymore. That was when I slowly let out the breath that I was holding. We were having way too many close calls, probably far more than we should be having. It was only a matter of time before that luck finally ran out and both Chameleon and I knew it. Hopefully by the time that it did, we would've destroyed the missiles.

That guy Reynolds or whatever said that their boss wanted us caught alive. I assumed that the boss was Harriman himself. Why would he want us alive? Not that I was complaining as that was certainly better than him wanting us dead. But that other guy was right. Keeping any super alive, no matter how inexperienced, was an immense risk to any villain's plans. So why do it? Also, the other big question, did they already capture Ultraviolet and Changeling? It was almost impossible to tell. They only said that they were searching for us. That was very vague and could've meant just the two of us here or all four of us put together. Sadly, we still didn't know what happened to Ultraviolet and Changeling when that door shut between us. I was praying that they got themselves out of that situation and were looking for us. That gave me a little hope, but until we knew for sure, that was pretty much all that I had to go by. My mind went back to this so-called plan that was supposedly in store for us in the event that we did get captured. What exactly was this plan?

'_Oh, come on, Jess,' _the very annoying inner voice came back. _'Even you should have an idea what kind of a plan that is. Do the two words **TEST SUBJECT **ring a bell inside that injured and rattled head of yours?'_

'_Shut up!' _I thought back. _'I didn't ask your opinion.'_

'_Hey, I'm only stating the obvious. You know that's the **only **reason they want to just capture you, why they're keeping Mom alive…'_

'_I said SHUT UP!'_

I couldn't believe this! I was having an argument with myself now of all times. Wasn't that one of the first signs that you're completely losing your mind? It was possible. I wouldn't be surprised if I needed some kind of therapy when this was all over. However, the voice was right in a way. Being used as a test subject was probably the main reason Harriman wanted us alive. But for what? Weapons? Drugs? Anything to find out the weaknesses of supers? Possibly all of the above? Well, I had no intention of ever finding out. Still, in spite of all that, I didn't realize that I had a small smile on my mouth from thinking that I was totally losing my mind.

"What's so funny?" Chameleon asked me, his voice low so it wouldn't echo loudly off the walls in the narrow stairway.

"Huh?" I asked him, confused.

"You're smiling," he told me. "Something funny?"

"What?" I then noticed that I had been smiling. "Oh, it's nothing. I was just thinking about something, that's all."

He had a small smile of his own then. "Well, it had to be something to make you smile at a time like this."

"It's nothing," I repeated. "Just something funny that crossed my mind."

"Okay, okay," he said. He then turned to Devin. "Do you have any idea why he wants us caught alive?"

"I really don't know," he replied. "It's possible that he wants to use you as test subjects, maybe find something that has an effect on supers."

"That's what I was thinking," Chameleon agreed.

'_Me, too,' _I thought to myself.

"Is there anything here that has an affect on supers?" Chameleon asked him.

"I honestly don't know," he said. "There are many things being kept here in the facility. Maybe one or a few of them have an affect on supers. But I thought supers all had different weaknesses. Maybe he's searching for something that's universal, you know, affects all supers at once."

"Maybe," Chameleon said. "I have no intention of being used as a lab rat, though. How far are we to the missiles?"

"We're very close to one now," Devin told him.

"Alright." He turned his attention to the door. "It might be a good idea if I go through the door first. I can see if the coast is clear and hopefully no one out there can see me."

I nodded. "That is a good idea," I agreed.

"How are you going to do that?" Devin asked him.

"Allow me to demonstrate," he replied.

Parts of his body began to vanish as he was blending into our surroundings until only his ghostlike outline remained. Even though I've grown used to that, it was still weird to see it happen. Devin looked on in amazement and, well, lack of amazement. It was that type of look you get when you're surprised by something but yet expected it to happen.

"Now you see why I'm called Chameleon," he said.

"Amazing," Devin said. "You have the power of invisibility."

"Yeah, sort of. Okay, here I go. Stay here for a moment. Um, is this door locked, by the way?"

"It is on the other side, but it can be opened from this side."

"Thanks."

He very quietly opened up the door and stuck his head out, at least I think he did. It was hard to tell as he was, well…hidden. I could just go ahead and say that he was invisible, but since he kept repeating that he wasn't truly invisible, then it probably wouldn't be right to say that he was invisible. Anyway, after a few moments he went through the door but still held it slightly open. He was out there for about ten to fifteen seconds before he opened it fully again and reappeared.

"Okay, it's clear but hurry," he told us. "I think they're coming back."

Devin and I left the steps and out the door as quickly and silently as we could. We were in an area that had three corridors, two to our left and right and one directly in front of us. Like Chameleon said, it sounded like a few of them were coming back. There were a few voices coming from around the corner of the corridor to our left. They were steadily getting louder and sounded like they were going to be around the corner in a matter of seconds.

"This way," Devin told us.

He quickly moved down the corridor in front of us and we followed just as fast. We went all the way to the end where there was a door with an **EXIT **sign above it. He opened the door and we found ourselves outside in the still warm night air. We were in between a cluster of buildings. Most of the area around us was lit up in bright lights but we were in an area that was well shadowed. We immediately heard voices and what sounded like hissing and running machines on the other side of one of the buildings. We seemed to be very exposed out here like this.

"Over here," Devin told us.

He went over to the building in front of us and unlocked the nearby door. We went through the now opened door and we were in what looked like a darkened office. The lights were off but there seemed to be quite a bit of light coming through the shut shades of a nearby window. Chameleon went over to the window and peered through the shades.

"Over here, quick," he said, motioning us over with his hand.

We went over to the window and carefully looked through different parts of the shades. There it was, one of the four nanobot-filled missiles that would be launched at Metroville in a little more than an hour from now. It was silver colored and quite long, at least ten to twelve feet. There were fins in the middle and at the end of the missile. There were several hoses connected to it. Something that looked like steam or mist was coming off a few of them and out the end of the missile. That thing looked destructive. Unfortunately, there was a lot of activity around it, far more than we would've liked. There were about seven people working on the missile, and standing guard over them were five armed guards. As the whole area was lit up almost as bright as day, we saw everything clearly. I even took a moment to study each of the faces of the people working on the missile to see if any one of them was my dad. None of them weren't. I felt incredibly disappointed for a moment. I wanted the chance to save him. That didn't mean that I couldn't. He was still here somewhere in this place, and I was just as determined to save him as my mother. Right now, though, the main focus was on how to stop this missile in front of us.

"Well, there it is," Devin told us. "One of the missiles, just like I said."

"Wow," I whispered.

"You could say that again," Chameleon said.

We pulled back from the window and stood at the center of the dark office. Each of us seemed to be at a loss on what to do next. That seemed so unbelievable. There we were, having actually found one of the missiles, having the means to completely destroy them tied around our belts, only to realize that we didn't have a plan to even get to the missile in the first place. Chalk up another point for inexperience.

"Okay, we need some kind of plan," Chameleon said. "Anyone have any ideas?"

"None," I told him.

"I don't have one, either," Devin agreed. "This is a little out of my league since I'm not a super."

Chameleon sighed and went back to the window. He looked out at the scene on the other side and seemed to be deep in thought. I began to think myself for a possible solution to our problem. It didn't take long for me to think of something. I remembered what Ultraviolet told us in the main utility room. We may have to create a diversion. I went over to the window and looked out at the people. A diversion certainly seemed possible. What kind of diversion, though? The phrase 'divide and conquer' came to mind. There were five guards out there and two of us. Okay, three if you included Devin, but I knew that it wouldn't be a good idea to expose him to this kind of danger, even if he was the vice-president and knew this place a lot better than us. Maybe if we could split the guards up or even have them all go away, then maybe we could get to the missile and destroy it. But how do we do that?

"You know, we could create some kind of diversion," Chameleon said.

"That's exactly what I was thinking," I said. "But I have no idea on how to do that."

He then turned to me. "I think I do," he said in a slightly hesitant voice. "And, um, I don't think you're going to like it."

"Why?" I asked, giving him a strange look. "What won't I like about it?"

"Okay, don't get mad," he continued to hesitate.

"Just tell me what your plan is," I said, starting to lose patience.

He sighed. "You're going to be the diversion," he said in a low voice.

My eyes widened and my mouth dropped. No, he did **_NOT _**just say what I thought he did. "What?" I nearly screamed but caught myself in time. "Are you out of your freaking _mind?_"

"No, I'm not," he said defensively. "Here's the plan. You go out and create a diversion, maybe have a few of them chase you, and then I use my power and sneak in and use the mine to destroy the missile and hopefully save those people working on it in the process."

"I still don't like that idea at all," I said. "Say they do follow me, then what? I could get caught, hurt, maybe even killed. Did you ever stop and think of that?"

"Do you have a better idea?" he countered.

"No," I admitted. "But there has to be a better one than this."

"Unfortunately, we don't have time to hear it," he said. "We're pressed for enough of it as it is. Trust me, this could work."

I didn't like how he said that this _could _work, although it probably would've sounded like a flat out lie if he said that this _would _work. But as much as I hated to admit it, he was definitely right. We didn't have much time left and he had the best idea. That didn't mean that I had to like it, and believe me, I didn't. With a heavy sigh, I gave in.

"Okay, I'll do it," I told him. "But I swear, if this doesn't work, I am _so _gonna kill you."

"That's the spirit," he told me.

"Is there anything that I could do to help?" Devin asked. "Like I said, I'm not a super, but maybe I could do something."

"What can you do?" Chameleon asked him.

"Well, I'm very good at being a vice-president," he said with a small laugh. "Other than that, not much."

"There is one thing that you could help us out with," Chameleon said. He untied the mine off his belt and held it up. "Can you show us how to use these things?"

I nearly burst out laughing. It wasn't at him, but at that most obvious thought. We were so concerned about destroying the missile that we didn't know how to use the weapon that would do it. It had to be some kind of miracle that got us this far with all the bumbling that we've been doing all night.

"Sure," Devin replied.

He took the mine and went over to the window to have enough light. It was the first time that we saw the weapon up close. It had four buttons and what looked like a digital timer above them.

"Okay, to activate it," he explained, "press the lower left button first. While holding that, press the right button next to it and hold them both for about five seconds. That will activate the timer. You then use the two upper buttons to set the time. To arm it, press the lower _right _button first, then the left and hold them both for about five seconds. You'll hear a tiny beep to let you know that it is armed and running. One important thing, this thing explodes in a very bright flash. Don't look directly at it or it'll blind you. There you go."

"Thanks," Chameleon told him. He then sighed. "Well, let's not put this off any longer. You think you'll be safe in here for a few moments?"

"Hopefully," Devin replied. "I do know a few ways to defend myself, and I also have the element of surprise."

"Okay, stay safe." Chameleon then said to me. "Let's go."

He slowly opened the door and we stepped back outside. There still wasn't anyone around. As quietly as we could, we snuck by the building that we were in and then around the corner toward the brightly lit up area where the missile was. I was desperately trying to control the pounding of my heart and failing miserably.

"God, I can't believe you're making me do this," I whispered.

"I know, and I'm sorry," he whispered back. "But I stand the best chance of getting there undetected, but I can't do that unless there are fewer guards. Follow?"

"Yeah."

He then took my right hand in his and patted the top of it with his other. "You'll be fine, Jess," he said. "I know you can do it. I believe in you."

We looked at each other for a few moments, probably far longer than we should have. I felt myself begin to blush and I looked away, nearly bursting out into an uncontrollable fit of giggles.

"Well, here I go," I told him with a sigh. "Wish me luck."

"Oh, I do," he said with a smile.

I let go of his hand and almost started to go when I remembered something. I reached down and untied the mine around my belt. I then handed it to him. "Here," I said. "I want you to hold onto this. It's in case I have to fly or something and I don't want to damage it."

He took it from me. "Good thinking," he told me. "One last thing. If you can get away, try to make your way back here. I'll wait here as long as I can. If you can find Ultraviolet and my brother along the way, lead them back here."

"I'll try," I said. "No guarantees, though. I still don't know my way around this place."

"You'll find your way back," he reassured me. "Okay, you better get going."

I nodded, and then looking at that corner that would expose me into full view of the five guards, I forced myself to slowly move towards it. I noticed that my breathing was just as ragged and deep as my beating heart. I stopped just before the corner. The voices were a lot louder now but they didn't sound like they were getting any closer. I looked back at Chameleon and he gave me a thumbs up. I gave him one back then looked back at the corner. I still couldn't believe that I was going to do this. I was probably more scared at that moment than I've ever been, and that included all of the things that happened to me tonight. I then looked up to the night sky.

"Grandpa, Grandma," I whispered. "If you're watching me from up there, wish me all the luck in the world."

I then closed my eyes, took a deep breath, counted slowly to three, and then jumped out into full view of the five armed guards.


	22. Divided and Reunited

_Author's Note: Hey, there. People are still reading and enjoying this story, right? It's kinda hard to tell if not many reviews are coming in. It's hard to write a story if there's no feedback. Almost makes you wonder if you should continue on writing. Anyway, here's the next chapter and I would like at least few reviews, otherwise I might stop the story here._

**Chapter 22**

I'm sure that each and every one of us had done a completely stupid and maybe even suicidal thing at least once in our lives. Of course, some of you might totally deny doing such things, but we all know better. I mean, how else would we learn lessons if not by trial and error? I'll freely admit that I did some pretty stupid things over my fourteen years, some that I've already mentioned before and others that are secrets that I'll take with me to my grave. One thing that I'll kinda embarrassingly admit to was something that I did almost exactly a year before I discovered my powers. At that time we had a big pool in our backyard that was just a few feet away from the tree. So that one summer afternoon, I was up in the tree looking down at the pool when for some crazy reason I wanted to see if I could jump into it from there. So without thinking I tried it, and came up about a foot too short, bouncing off the side of the pool and onto the ground. It was amazing that I didn't break any bones, but I did get a nasty cut and a couple of equally nasty bruises. Needless to say, my parents weren't too thrilled with that and gave me the standard scolding, _'What were you thinking, Jessica? How could you do something that crazy? You're lucky you didn't break your neck!' _To this day I don't know why I did that. I guess at that age we all think that we're invincible and could survive anything.

But as crazy and stupid that some of the things I've done in the past were, even combined they didn't even come close to the totally insane thing that I was doing right then. I mean, willingly throwing myself into view of five armed guards that would probably try to shoot me on sight. I definitely didn't feel invincible then. But we did overhear that other group saying that they needed to take us alive, so maybe they wouldn't try to shoot me right away. I was praying that they didn't, anyway. Sure, my suit was supposed to be bulletproof, but the parts of my face and head that wasn't behind my mask weren't. Well, they say we only live once.

When I jumped out from behind the corner of the building and out into the open, I had my eyes closed, probably in preparation for the worst. After a few seconds went by and nothing happened, I opened them slowly. Almost unbelievably, they hadn't even noticed me yet! Either the bright lights that lit up the area around the missiles kept them blind to the area outside it or they were so busy keeping guard over the people working on it that they didn't see me, or maybe even both. I probably could've leapt back behind the corner without them seeing me. But the plan was to get a few of them away so that Chameleon could destroy the missile. I took a quick look back to see if he was still there and didn't see him. Either he had moved away or he had blended in. I really wished that I had his power right then. I suppose that it was that time.

'_Okay, here it goes,' _I thought to myself.

I raised two fingers to my mouth and let out a shrill whistle. _That _got their attention. All five of them ran over to just in front of the missile and aimed their weapons at me. I gulped loudly. Well, I had their attention, so now what? My instincts were screaming at me to get away, but I held firm. I wanted to make sure a few of them followed me first, and that probably meant taunting them a little.

"Freeze!" one of them shouted at me. "Hold it right there!"

"Uh, hi there." I did my best to put on my most innocent sounding voice and hoping that they couldn't hear the fear in it. "Um, I was wondering where's the nearest bathroom. This is a pretty big place and I got kind of lost."

That probably caught them a little off guard, but they didn't seem to show it. "Don't move, super!" the same guy continued to yell. "Hands up where we can see them! Don't even think of trying anything funny!"

I did as I was told and slowly raised my hands, but I still continued to talk. "Me, a super? Oh, no. I was just here for the special tour that they had earlier in the day. You know, Dress-Up-As-Your-Favorite-Super Day. I take it that none of you are tour guides. That really sucks. I was hoping to get some cool pamphlets and souvenirs and maybe even a T-shirt."

"No more talking," he told me. He then pulled out a walkie-talkie and spoke into it. "This is Sanders at missile four. We caught one of the supers. It's a young girl wearing a black and orange suit."

"_Good work," _a voice said through it. _"We'll send a few people to take care of her. Keep her contained there until they get there."_

"Roger that. That won't be a problem."

While he was talking, I was already planning my getaway and had an idea how. "I just have one last thing to say, if you'll let me," I said.

"What's that?" he said. "If it's begging for mercy, that won't help you one bit."

"No, it's not that," I told him as I made both of my raised hands glow bright orange. "I just wanted to say, doesn't it suck to be so totally wrong?"

With that, I leveled my hands and shot two fireballs at the lights on either side of the five guards. They exploded in a flash of sparks and pieces and partially dimmed the area around the missile. All five of them and even most of the people working on the missile scrambled for cover. I took that moment to turn around and run as fast as I could toward a three-story building at the far side of the wide area. Of course, it would've been far easier for me to fly away instead of run, but I needed them to chase after me on foot. I expected them to start shooting at me at any moment, but they never did, but I did hear that guy yell, "You three, go after her!"

I quickly looked back and saw three of them begin to chase me. I had a pretty good lead on them but I didn't think that would last. Well, everything was going as planned and I had three out of five coming after me. So now the question was, how do I keep them busy for a few minutes and then lose them? I was going to have to think on the fly for this one. Surprisingly, I was starting to feel calmer than before. I didn't know why that was, but it was helping me think more clearly. An idea quickly formed inside my head. Immediately after I rounded the corner of the building and out of sight of the chasing guards, I formed my aura and flew up to the roof, hoping that I wasn't bright enough for them to see. When I was just above the roof, I made the aura vanish and I dropped down onto it. Unfortunately, I landed a little awkwardly on my feet and stumbled and fell on my back. I took a tiny moment to sigh to myself and shake my head. So close!

I quickly got back on my feet and went to the edge of the building. I peered over the edge just as the three men appeared around the corner. They stopped and looked both left and right, trying to find me. They never once looked up. I guess they hadn't seen me and still thought that I couldn't fly. I suppose that it really was true that a new superhero had the advantage that no one knew what he or she could really do.

"Where'd she go?" one of them said.

"Stay sharp," another one said. "She's around here somewhere."

"But she's a super," the first guy told him. "She could be anywhere. Supers can do anything."

The second guy was silent for a moment, then said to the others, "Spread out, but keep in sight. If you see her, let us know. Don't take her on by yourself. We don't know what she's capable of. Let's go."

I watched from above as the three men slowly walked away from me, spreading out as they went. Every few steps they would look around them, and still they didn't up. Apparently, they already forgot that supers could do anything. I was wondering if I should stay there and just watch, or make my presence known to them. So far they were busy looking for me and not near the missile. I looked back toward the lighted area to see if anything was happening, but I couldn't see much as the building that we hid in earlier was blocking most of the view. I took that time to find out what else I could see from that height. A lot as it turned out, probably at least most of the facility. In fact, I thought I could see another brightly lit area almost directly across from where we were. Whether or not that was another missile site still remained to be seen.

I heard more voices below and I looked back over the edge in time to see four more guards appear around the corner. The other three came over to them.

"What happened?" one of the new arrivals asked. "I thought you had the super contained."

"We did," the second guy of the first three told him. "She got away from us, though. She shot some kind of fire from her hands and then ran this way. We're still trying to find her."

"Do you know which super she was?"

"No. She's probably someone new."

"New, huh? Do you know if she's alone or maybe has some friends?"

"Well, Palmer said that there were four of them, one which looked very familiar. He lost track of two of them, though."

I was assuming that Chameleon and I were the two that they lost track of. And still none of them said anything about Ultraviolet and Changeling. What happened to them after we had been separated? Up from then until this point, I was confident that they escaped from the eight guards and were running around the facility someplace. But now I felt the first signs of doubt start to creep into my mind. I was almost certain that they weren't dead, but I was just starting to come to grasp with the possibility that they might have been captured. That was a sad and probably demoralizing thought, but it could've been very true. Even the most experienced super messes up once in a while. So I suppose that meant that Chameleon and I had to assume that they had been captured. The two of us were probably now the only supers between Metroville and destruction. God, talk about pressure! Not to mention that we were far from being the most experienced supers in the city. How would we get through something like this? Still, I was very optimistic and was sure that they hadn't been captured. That was what I was telling myself, at least. And that was what I needed to believe at the moment, otherwise I probably would've lost all hope.

"Do you think she's still around?" one of them asked.

"She has to be," the first guy, whom I'll call the main guy of the combined group, replied.

"Should we go ahead and look for her?" another asked.

"Not yet," the main guy told him. "I want to give her one last chance to surrender and save us the trouble."

I chuckled to myself. _'Yeah, like **that's** going to happen, buddy,' _I thought.

The main guy then called out into the night, "Okay, Little Miss Blaze! We know you're out here somewhere! Whatever it is that you and your partners are planning, it won't work! It's already too late to stop what's going on here! It won't do you any good to keep hiding! If you surrender now you won't be harmed! You have my word on that!"

I couldn't help but scoff at that. _'Right, like the word of a merc really means anything.'_

"This is all up to you!" he continued to yell out. "Our main orders are to take you in alive and unharmed, but we do have the authority to shoot to kill if necessary! Whether you believe that or not doesn't matter! You only have my word to go by! You're only making it harder on yourself by continuing to hide! If you give up now, you might have a chance to live! What's it going to be?"

As I thought a few seconds earlier, a merc's word didn't mean anything. I mean, I knew that their orders to capture us alive were true, but I had a gut feeling that him saying that I could live through all this if I gave myself up was not. Oh sure, we might be kept alive to most likely be experimented on and forced to watch the missiles being launched at Metroville, but we would most certainly be killed when all that was over. That was always how it seemed to be. So I didn't want him to say something like that because I wasn't buying it for a second.

Just then there was a loud explosion behind me, shaking the building underneath my feet. I turned around in time to see the end of a bright flash where the lit up area was and then a good-sized fireball appear from it. It had to be the missile being destroyed. I couldn't believe it! Chameleon did it! He really did it! Finally, probably the first thing that went right tonight. Of course, there were three other missiles out there, but for a brief moment that didn't matter. The fact that we destroyed the first one was by itself a monumental achievement. It renewed me with confidence that maybe we really could do this and it wasn't as hopeless as we first thought. I found myself smiling and I pumped my fist a couple of times.

"Yeah, way to go, Leon!" I cheered silently.

Obviously, that got the attention of the seven men below me. They all looked back in the direction of the explosion.

"What the hell was that?" one of them asked loudly.

"Sounds like trouble," the main guy replied. "You three, go back there and see what the hell happened."

As I watched three of the guards run back toward that area, I was hoping that Chameleon was able to rescue those people and get away before the missile blew up. So now I was left with four guards to deal with. Well, four was definitely better than seven but that didn't mean much. Four highly trained people could be far more dangerous than seven not so trained people. A second but smaller explosion rocked the area. There now seemed to be a lot of fire and smoke coming from that area. In fact, I think that the building that we hid in before was now fully engulfed in flames. Wow, that had to be quite the explosion! I wasn't expecting anything like that. I hoped Chameleon and Devin as well as everyone else survived that.

"You think Little Miss Blaze caused that?" someone said. I really was starting to hate being called that name. It sounded like a name that came out of a children's fairy tale book or something.

"Yeah, she could've doubled back on us," someone else agreed.

The main guy looked around him for a few seconds then seemed to somewhat agree with his partner. "That could be a possibility," he said.

"So what do you want us to do now?"

He started to say something, but he was interrupted by several bursts of gunfire. It sounded like it was coming from the direction of the fire. My blood chilled and my heart leapt into my throat as I figured out what was happening over there. Oh my God, Chameleon! They must've found him!

The voice that came over the men's radios confirmed my suspicions. _'This is O'Neill. We've spotted another super near the destroyed missile. We think that it was a male wearing a camouflaged suit, but we're not sure. He disappeared on us. We might need more men over here to help with the search."_

The main guy raised his own walkie-talkie to his mouth. "Roger that. We're on our way."

My shock of what was going happening over by that raging fire was immediately replaced by another raging fire that was burning inside me. I was furious that they were shooting at Chameleon. It was to be expected given our situation, but that didn't stop me from how I was feeling. I might not be able to help him from here, but I was going to make sure that these guys didn't join their buddies. I got to the corner of the roof just as they were starting to pass underneath me. I held out my right arm and shot a fireball, blasting a smoking crater in the ground just in front of them. I only wanted to get their attention, not kill them. They all jumped back as chunks of dirt hit them and then looked up at me, raising their weapons.

"Hold your fire," the main guy told them. He then said up to me, "Hello there, my fiery friend."

"Hey there, yourself," I said. "Miss me?"

"Hardly," he said. "You know, that wasn't very nice."

"Maybe, but what you're doing here isn't very nice, either," I shot back.

"Depends on how you look at it. So, is this turning into some kind of standoff or were you just using us for target practice?"

"It doesn't have to become a standoff. Maybe I just want to have a little talk with you. But first, why not put down your weapons? I don't like talking while I'm being threatened."

I heard his chuckle even at three stories up. "Really? Leave us defenseless while you have all the firepower. And why should we do that, Little Miss Blaze?"

"First off," I told him, angry at being called that stupid name once again, "the name's Phoenicia, **_not _**Little Miss Blaze. Second, consider it a gesture of good faith. I mean, I could've incinerated all of you at any time. Back at the missile or from up here, but I didn't. I still might, though, if I you continue to threaten me. So how about this, all of you throw away your guns and I won't fry you all up. Deal?" Of course, as you all might know, I was lying through my teeth when I said that I might use my powers on them, but the advantage was that they didn't know it.

"How do we know we could trust you?" he said after a few moments of silence.

"Oh yeah, and what makes you think I can trust you?" I said back at him.

"Well, you don't, obviously."

"And neither do all of you, it seems." I then held out my hands and made them glow brightly, little flames appearing around them. I did that mainly for dramatic show, not for an actual threat. "So what's it going to be? Is it a deal or not?"

He remained unfazed while some of his men actually took a step or two back. "I guess since you put it that way, we don't seem to have much of a choice, do we?"

"That depends on what you do next."

He seemed to stare at me for a little while, and then he chuckled and shook his head. "You're really brave for a young girl, or you're just really stupid. I guess it's a deal. Put down your guns, men."

The rest of the guys seemed to stare at him as if he was crazy but then did as he said and dropped their weapons to the ground. I stopped the glow of my hands and dropped them back to my side, letting out the breath that I was holding. It actually shocked me that they did that, but I didn't let my guard down in the least bit. This still felt so much like a good old-fashioned standoff.

"Alright, our weapons are gone," he said. "Now what?"

"Now we talk, just like I said," I told him. "Let's start with the obvious question. Why does your boss want to destroy Metroville?"

"You haven't figured it out, yet?" he said with a small laugh.

"No," I said, slightly confused. "Should I have?"

He laughed again. "I thought you supers had a natural thing for figuring out these plots. No, he hadn't told us the reason behind his plan, if that's what you're thinking. It's strictly need-to-know basis. Besides, even if we knew all the details, you think we'd tell you?"

"You might. Don't you bad people have a natural thing of going into an unnecessarily long speech about how great your latest plan is and how useless it is for us to stop it, all that stuff?"

"You mean that monologue crap?" He laughed a lot harder and couple of the others joined him. God, I was starting to hate that laugh. It was just as bad as him calling me Little Miss Blaze, if not slightly worse. "Girl, I think you have your _bad people _mixed up. Do we look like supervillains to you? They're the ones that do that. I do agree with you, though, with them spending way too much talking and not doing anything. No, we're just the hired help. We're here to do our job and that's it. I'll let you in on some info. The rumor is that he wants to settle some score. Satisfied?"

Finally, a major piece to this very strange puzzle, if it was true. But it was far too vague and didn't make any sense at all. Settle a score? Settle a score with whom or what? The city, the supers, a single person, what? This was getting far too frustrating, to say the least.

"Not in the slightest," I replied.

"Hey, you want to know what's going on here, and I told you what I know. If that isn't good enough of an answer for you, then maybe you should go ask him yourself."

"It might eventually come to that," I told him. I noticed that I was slightly pacing back and forth on the edge of the roof and quit. "And now for question number two. Why does he want us alive?"

"I thought you wanted to talk, not play Twenty Questions," he said.

"Well, this is talking, isn't it? I mean, we are moving our mouths and intelligible sounds are coming out of them, right? Unless we've been communicating telepathically for the past few minutes."

He held up his hands. "Hey, if you want to play this game, it's fine by me. I have all the time in the world and nothing to lose. You and your friends, on the other hand, don't have a lot of time left and have everything to lose. Unless you already forgot the other three missiles aimed at Metroville."

Of course I hadn't forgotten about that as it was still foremost on my mind. And I really wish that he didn't bring it up at that point. But he was very right and we didn't have that much time left and we had an entire city to lose. We now probably had an hour, maybe less, to find the other three missiles and destroy them. However, I didn't want to leave until I got at least a couple of answers out of this guy, if he would stop being so stubborn. Hopefully immediately after that I would be able to get away from these people and find the others.

"No, I haven't forgot about that," I told him. "I just want to know why he wants us taken alive."

"You're getting far too nosy for your own good," he said. "Besides, isn't it better for you to be alive than dead?"

"It depends. What's the difference between you killing me now and possibly being killed later on after being taken in alive?"

"Does it really matter? It might not make any difference or it could make all the difference in the world. Frankly, I don't care. It all depends on what you and your partners do."

I now had just about all that I could stand from this guy. It seemed like he was leading me around in circles, not giving me straight answers. It was seriously starting to tick me off. And to further top it off, it was hard to tell if he was lying or not. Well, no matter. It was time that I left anyway. I spent far too long talking to him. I had just started to open my mouth and tell him that and it was at that time that I heard it. That distinctive humming sound. Oh, no…

I turned around just in time to see three Hummingbirds appear over the far edge of the roof, and slowly move in. I was now sandwiched in between them, the edge of the roof, and the four men below. I wasn't so much as scared as I was angry, but mostly with myself. Just like my mother all those years ago, I had become too overconfident holding those men at bay, trying to get answers from them and not paying any attention to my surroundings. I just knew it was only a matter of time before all the blunders finally caught up to me, and this one just might be the one that finally does me in.

"You stupid, stupid person," I cursed myself.

The man laughed. "Well now, we have quite a little problem now, haven't we?" he taunted.

_We, _huh? Gee, that was funny. I didn't know that _we _were facing the same problem. My hands were balled into fists as I was fuming. God help me, I so badly wanted to blast his head clean off right then, and if I didn't have any self-control I probably would've done just that and not felt the least bit sorry over it either.

I was determined not to go down with some kind of fight, though. As quickly as I could, I shot two fireballs toward the Hummingbirds, hoping to knock out two of them. Amazingly, though, one of them moved quickly to its left and the other moved up, making both of my shots miss. I gasped and blinked, not believing what I just saw. Well, that was something new. How did they know to do that? It was almost as if they were anticipating what I would do, almost as if they were learning…that was precisely it. They **_WERE _**learning! Somehow, someway, they had learned from another's mistake in dealing with me and found a way to counter it. Oh man, this was bad, very, seriously bad. It now meant that just lobbing fireballs probably wouldn't work against them and I had to find a new way to deal with them. Unfortunately, I had no idea what that new way was just yet.

I heard them power up as they were preparing to fire. I quickly looked down and saw the men start to pick up their weapons. I made a split second decision and chose the lesser of the two evils. I jumped off the roof almost like an Olympic diver right above the men and formed my aura before I dropped too much and flew away. Man, I would've given anything to see the look on that guy's face right then. Quickly looking back, I saw him furiously pointing at me and Hummingbirds start to give chase, but they were far too slow to catch me. I was smiling broadly and barely fought the urge to do a few victory loops. Now was definitely not the time to get cocky.

It was probably too dangerous for me to look for the others, so I had to find a place to hide out for a little while. I saw a very long building in front of me. I figured that it would be a good place to get some separation, provided that it wasn't full of more guards or robots. There was a line of small windows running along the top of the building near the roofline. I didn't know if they were locked or not, so I went ahead and opened it my own way, by blasting one of them with a fireball. I flew through the new opening…and immediately collided with something hard, _headfirst! _

I heard a strange crunching noise as immense pain exploded inside my head and dulled my senses. I tumbled out of the air, hitting other hard objects on the way down before crashing through another on my back. I was dimly aware of heavy sounding objects falling and cracking around me like some kind of avalanche. I was in so much pain, both in my head and the slightly lesser one in my back. My eyes were closed and I think I was groaning loudly. I couldn't tell because I don't think that I was all that coherent and was on the verge of passing out for the second time. There was no telling what kind of new damage I might've done to my head. In fact, it was now questionable if I could actually continue on. If someone or something was to come along and see me like that, I knew that there would be no way I could defend myself. I was too out of it to move.

I don't know how long I lay there in pain and in my dreamlike state before I heard what sounded like a big door opening, followed by very strange sounds, almost like a fight. It was over quickly and there was silence. It was impossible for me to know what happened, as I still didn't want to open my eyes. It just hurt too much. I just had to hope that there were no bad guys in here. If there were then I hand no chance. I then heard some running steps coming toward me. I braced myself for the worst. It would be the ultimate irony if it were that guy. Too bad I didn't have anything smart to say to him if it was. I heard crunching noises, almost like splintering wood and then I felt a hand on my shoulder. It shook me gently and then came a voice.

"Jess? Jess, are you okay? Come on, Jess, say something."

It was Chameleon, thank god. He found me. I was surprised that he was able to. I was also glad that he was alright as well.

"Come on. Say something, Jess." He sounded very concerned if not a little scared.

I groaned a little bit and forced my mouth to move. "Okay, something. There, happy?" My voice sounded very weak.

I heard him sigh and then laugh a little. "Yeah, very much. Glad to see that you're okay."

"No, I'm not," I told him. "I'm hurt."

"How bad?" he asked.

"I hit my head on something when I flew in here. My back's also hurting. What did I hit? In fact, where are we and how'd you find me?"

"I think you plowed into a high stack of crates," he told me. "They're all piled up along the wall here and there are a lot of broken ones on the floor. You're also lying in a broken crate so that's probably why your back's hurting. As for the other questions, we're either in a hangar or some storage and maintenance building. They got that one special train, the _MagSpeed, _sitting in here. There's also some weird looking airplane sitting next to it As to how I found you, it's kind of easy to see you and follow if you're one of the brightest things around. Anyway, let me check your head to see how bad you hurt it."

He moved some of my hair from my forehead and checked my injury. While he did that I asked, "Where's Devin? Did you meet back up with him?"

He stopped moving and he was silent for a while, then he answered with a sigh, "He's dead."

That cut through my haze like a sharp knife. It actually made me finally open my eyes and look at him. "Dead?" I whispered. "How?"

He sighed again. "After you led those three guards away, I easily took care of the other two left behind. Those guys that were working on the missile are scientists. I told them what was going on and helped them get away. After I blew up that missile, which I'm sure you saw and heard, I went back to the building to get Devin out as it was catching on fire, but he was already out and waiting for me. Then there were probably at least three or four guards shooting at us. We were able to get away from them but we came around this corner and there were three Hummingbirds waiting for us. Devin shoved me out of the way just as they opened fire. All three hit him square in his chest. He didn't have a chance. He saved my life."

"Wow," I said. I was truly shocked by this. I couldn't believe that he was dead. What was really sad was that I still hadn't fully trusted him when I left, after he seemed to go out of his way to help us. I think that both Chameleon and I were so suspicious of everything that we were turning away possible allies. Being a little suspicious was probably okay, especially in a place like this, but not at the expense of those people that could help us. It was terrible that I wouldn't be able to apologize to him now. He was a very nice guy.

"Yeah," Chameleon said. "I think we misjudged him."

It was nice to know that he was thinking the same way I was. "Yeah," I agreed.

He checked my head some more, then he said, "Your head's not bleeding, but it's bruised quite a bit. I don't know much more you hurt yourself from earlier, but I think that it'd be a great idea if you didn't fly into more things headfirst."

"Gee, thanks for the great advice," I said sarcastically.

"No problem. But seriously, do you think you can walk? It's not safe to stay here."

"Maybe, but I'm going to need some help."

"Okay, don't worry. I'll help you. Just take it easy."

He took my right hand in his and slowly began to pull me up from the crushed crate. My head was pulsing and my back was screaming in protest. It was a very slow process, but I eventually got back up on my feet, and would've collapsed forward if he hadn't been holding on to me. My head was swimming but at least I could see clearly. It was then that I noticed he had some kind of short pipe in his hand.

"What's that in your hand?" I asked.

"Oh, this?" he said, holding up the pipe. "I was using it as a weapon. Let's just say that I had to fight through a few guards to get to you. Man, those suits they wear are hard. My hands and feet are probably going to be black and blue for a few days."

I remembered when I saw him fighting those guys inside the mall a few days ago and how good he seemed to be, although he was still slightly inexperienced as we all were. I guess he was even better at fighting than I first thought. "You're going to have to teach me some of your fighting moves sometime," I said.

"I was planning on it anyway," he told me. "In fact, I'll introduce you to my uncle when we get out of here. He can teach you a lot more than I ever could."

"Thanks," I told him.

"No problem. Okay, let's get moving. There are some stairs nearby that lead underground. I think we might be safer back down there. Just take it one step at a time now. I got you."

My right arm was draped over his shoulders and his left arm was wrapped around my waist. Together we walked, okay, me half walking, half staggering and stumbling, toward a stairway door at the far wall. I took a closer look around. This place was enormous. This had to be the biggest building on the site.

Directly in front of us, on a raised track that reached about halfway up inside the building, sat the _MagSpeed. _It was my first time seeing it up this close. It was an extremely sleek, futuristic looking train. It looked like it was going fast just sitting there. Its glossy silver paint seemed to make the whole train glow by itself. There were two stripes, one blue and the other purple, that ran along the entire length of the train. On both the front and rear cars, the lines were broken and the word _MagSpeed _was there, but cut in the middle and each half colored to match the blue and purple lines. I didn't know much about the train other than it was supposed to be the fastest train in the world and that it had no wheels, instead using powerful magnets to float it above the track and propel it. I was a little surprised to see it here in this place, but since it was built by ATI and was still being tested, then it would make sense for it to be here.

Chameleon saw me looking at it. "Quite a train, isn't it?" he said. "My brother and I are planning to ride it one day, when we could actually afford the ticket price. That should be in about thirty years or so." He chuckled and I cracked a smile. "Okay, come on. We're almost there."

After nearly a full minute or two of him walking and me trying to, we finally made it to the door. He opened it and peered inside. Once he seemed satisfied, we went inside and down the steps. I was being careful not to miss a step and send us both tumbling down the stairs. We went down maybe two or three flights, I wasn't quite sure. At the end of one, though, I began to wobble and then started to sink to my knees, feeling very dizzy and nauseous.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked in a very concerned voice. "Is something wrong?"

"Just give me a second," I told him, leaning against the wall to stabilize myself. "I'll be fine in a moment."

He didn't look all that convinced. "Are you sure? I'm really worried about you. You look like you're about to fall over. Do you feel like you can continue on?"

"I going to have to," I said. "We don't seem to have much of a choice."

He opened his mouth to say something but closed it. He then nodded. It didn't take long for my head to clear. In fact, the pain in both my head and back was beginning to go down. It still hurt a lot, especially in my head, but it wasn't near as bad as earlier. I then held up my right hand to see if I could make it glow. It took a moment longer than it should, but I was able to get it to glow a rich orange color. At least I knew that it worked.

"What are you doing?" Chameleon asked.

"Just doing some testing," I replied, stopping the glow and dropping my hand. "I'm ready now. Do you know where you're going, by the way?"

"Of course not," he said. "But every way leads somewhere, doesn't it?"

"Well…yeah."

"Okay, then. Let's go."

He was reaching for the door when suddenly it opened by itself. No, someone else had opened it, and there we were totally exposed and not in a defensive position. Chameleon still had the pipe in his hand and was starting to raise it just as two people appeared. However, one form of surprise turned into another when we saw that they were Ultraviolet and Changeling. Sweet relief flooded through me. They were alright after all! I wasn't even expecting to meet back up with them, especially since I was starting to give up on meeting back with them.. It was funny how some things turned out.

"Man, there you are," Changeling said with a smile. You know we've been looking everywhere for you?"

"No," Chameleon replied with a smile of his own. "But it's nice to see you both again. I thought you maybe had been captured or something. How did you find us, by the way?"

"Not quite, but we came way too close at least a half-dozen times over the past half-hour."

"And as to how we found you," Ultraviolet took over. "We saw you on two of the security cameras in this area. Remember, we still have control of the security grid. But anyway, are you two alright?"

"I'm fine, but she hurt herself quite a bit," Chameleon told her.

"How bad is it?" she asked me.

"I hurt my head and back when I crashed into and through some crates," I told her.

She gave me a very strange look. "What have you two been doing?" she finally asked. She sounded serious when she asked it, but I could've sworn I heard amusement in her voice as well.

"It's a very long story," Chameleon said. "But we got one of the missiles. We also ran into the vice-president and he helped us do it."

Now she looked really surprised. "You ran into Devin Woods? How did he escape from his captors? And where exactly is he?"

"He's dead," he told her. "A few of those Hummingbirds got him."

She let out a slow sigh. "Damn," she said. "We really could've used his help. He probably could've shed some light on this story. Let me take a look at your head." She came over and inspected my injured forehead. While she did that she said, "Anyway, excellent work on destroying one of the missiles. I'm very proud of you both. You were able to continue on in spite of being separated from us. Believe me when I say that not very many young supers can do that on their very first mission. We also were able to destroy one, but somehow it seemed far too easy. But no matter, it still leaves us with two left, but they're all the way on the other side of the complex. We're going to have to cut through Sandersville to get to them."

"Wait a minute," Changeling said. "Is that such a good idea? I mean, we already went through there to lose the Hummingbirds and Trackers. They might be in there."

"It's a risk we'll have to take. Going through Sandersville is the quickest way to the other two missiles."

Of course, Chameleon and I had no idea what they were taking about. What was this Sandersville they kept mentioning?

"What's Sandersville?" Chameleon asked the question before I could.

"You'll see," Changeling told him.

Ultraviolet finished checking my head a few seconds later. "It doesn't look like you did any more damage to your head, but there's a pretty nasty bruise now." She took out a tiny plastic box from her belt and got two pills from it. She handed them to me and said, "Here, take these. They should help you out for now. Just _please _don't go running into any more objects headfirst. I really don't want to fix your head up anymore than what I did before." She said those last two sentences in a sort of pleading voice.

"I'll try, but no promises," I told her as I swallowed the pills. I wished that I had some water with them as they didn't go down real smooth.

She gave me one of those small smiles before turning serious again. "Okay, let's move. It's now far more dangerous for us to stay in one place. Sandersville is a little ways down this hall."

Reunited once again, the four of us left the stairway and towards this Sandersville. It sounded big, whatever it was. Probably for the first time tonight, I thought I could see a pinpoint of light at the end of this very treacherous tunnel. However, I wasn't thinking that the rest of this was going to be a cakewalk. Even I wasn't that stupid. It was very likely that everything was going to be a lot harder now that everyone here was aware that we were here. It just seemed like there finally looked to be an end, even if it was almost microscopic, instead of the solid brick wall that was there most of the night.

"I have to know this," Chameleon said. "What happened to you two the moment after we were cut off?"

Ultraviolet answered that. "First off, I hit those eight men with a force wave before they even had a chance to fire their weapons. The two of us then jumped them before they got back to their feet. I took care of the majority of them but Changeling managed to knock out three of them. Your brother can fight really good."

"Well, at least he paid attention to me in one area," Chameleon said.

His younger brother scoffed. "Oh, please. You couldn't teach anyone to fight if your life depended on it."

"Anyway," Ultraviolet interrupted loudly. "When that was done, we were considering trying to break the door down to get back to you, but that was when the fire alarm went off and we figured that was probably not the best place to be. That did turn out to work to our advantage, though. Two of the guys that were defending the missile came to investigate, and needless to say they didn't get very far. They only left two people behind to guard the missile, so taking care of them and the weapon was no problem. But almost immediately we were ambushed by about a dozen Hummingbirds and Trackers. I still don't know if it was all a trap or not. We were close to Sandersville so I decided to go through there to try to lose them. It's a huge and easy place to get yourself lost in. I was surprised that it actually worked, given how smart those things are. After that, we decided to look for you two. It was interesting that we came out near where you were. So that's what happened."

"It sounds like you had about the same luck as we did," Chameleon said.

"If you mean bad, then yeah," Changeling told him. "I would like to hear the adventure that you two had."

Before he could get the chance to, we arrived at the mirror polished doors of an elevator. Ultraviolet pressed the button to the right of the doors. Moments later they opened up to reveal an elevator with equally polished walls and a gray-carpeted floor. We stepped inside and Ultraviolet pressed level **B12 **on the touch screen panel to the right of the doors. They closed and the elevator started downward.

"Level B12?" Chameleon said. "Jeez, how many underground levels does this place have?"

"Thirteen," Ultraviolet replied. "But most of the areas under B3 are classified places. Even I don't know some of the things they do there."

"Sounds like the perfect area to hide things," he said.

"That's what I think they did. That's probably why it took me so long to pick up on what was happening."

It only took a few seconds for the elevator to reach level B12. As the two of them were talking, I actually took a few glances around the elevator to see if there were hidden cameras or any other surprises. There probably weren't any if Ultraviolet was willing to use it, but I was still a little on edge.

The doors opened and we found ourselves in another strange corridor. However, unlike the smooth surfaced, blue-lit ones above us, this one was entirely concrete and lit up with florescent lighting. Different sizes of pipes also ran along the ceiling. The walls were painted white with a black stripes. Above one portion of the line were the letters U.U.A.T.C. with an arrow pointing in the direction we were heading.

"This way," Ultraviolet told us. "Stay close."

We walked down the corridor, our footsteps echoing loudly off the walls. It was pretty straightforward as there weren't many turns. We were basically following those letters and arrows. I had no idea what they meant, but I had a feeling that they were related to Sandersville, whatever it was.

A couple more corners later we went down a long corridor that was blocked off by a huge metal door at the end. The same letters were painted on the door. There was an electronic keypad next to the door with a red light above it. I had a feeling that Sandersville was right behind that door. Ultraviolet pulled out her device, held it next to the keypad and pressed a couple of buttons. There was a beep and the light changed to green. There was then the sound of multiple clicks and then a hum as the door slowly opened. There was a loud hiss as cold air rushed out from behind it, blowing our hair a little bit. I saw that there was another big door behind the first one and that was opening up as well.

We went through the two opened doors and stepped into an area that I couldn't even remotely imagine. It didn't seem real at all, even as I was standing there looking at it with my own two eyes. The best way that I could describe what I was seeing is that it looked like someone took a couple blocks of a downtown area of a city and somehow moved it underground perfectly intact. I mean, it had _everything._ Buildings, streets, streetlights, sidewalks, parked cars, mailboxes, fire hydrants, parking meters, benches, bus stops, you name it, it was there. It even seemed to have some kind of simulated sky where the ceiling would be, at least a hundred or so feet above us. God, what was this place? How did they build something like this? And what was it used for?

"This is the Underground Urban Assault Training Center," Ultraviolet explained. "Otherwise known as Sandersville. In case you're wondering, it was named after the person that designed it, Raymond Sanders. I've been in here at least a dozen or so times, and the scope of this place still amazes me."

"How did you build something like this, and why?" I asked.

"It was built along with the rest of the facility, almost twenty years ago," she replied. "It was built by a military request to have an extensive and realistic urban assault training area that wouldn't be picked up by Russian spy satellites. It's been expanded a couple of times since then, and now has an area of roughly nine football fields."

"_Nine football fields?" _Chameleon said in amazement. "And all of this is under the facility? How is it even being supported?"

"Actually, less than a quarter of it is under the facility," she told him. "The rest is open ground. As to how it's being supported, a few of the buildings in here also double as supports, like that one over there." She pointed to a nearby building that reached all the way to the ceiling.

"This is just too cool," he said.

"It is, but we don't have any time for a more detailed tour. Come on, the other entrance is clear on the other side."

We started walking down what I presumed was the main street, with me still looking around at Sandersville. Chameleon was right, it was totally cool, but it was also very eerie. It was real enough to feel like we were walking down some deserted city, and there was still the chance of guards or machines in here.

Unfortunately, we didn't get more than five steps before the doors behind us started to close. That by itself didn't mean anything as they probably closed automatically after a while. However, it was the voice that followed that clued us in that it was a trap.

"_Hello there, my super friends. Nice to see the four of you doing well. Yes, I know how many of you are here and where you are, despite your ingenious efforts to shut down the entire security net. Still, I'm disappointed that you destroyed two of my missiles, and you're going to have to pay for that. Since you're in Sandersville, it's the perfect place to test out a few new toys and see how they fare against supers. Yes, this should be fun. Good luck supers, you'll need it."_

It was hard to tell if the person that had spoken was Harriman or not, as the voice sounded like it was digitally disguised. But whoever he was, he definitely had a sick, twisted idea of fun. Just then the electronic billboard that we happened to be standing next to lit up. We read what was on it.

"_Welcome to Sandersville," _Changeling read. _"Population: 12. _Twelve?"

The three of us looked at Ultraviolet, who took a few moments to reply. "It's counting all moving things in here. It means four supers and eight of what else is in here."

We all looked around us then. We didn't see anything, but they were here in this artificial city somewhere, and I seriously doubted that these new 'toys' would be the latest things that we wanted for Christmas.


	23. SubUrban Warfare

_Author's note: I am **SO **sorry it took so long to update. Other than being so busy, I had to quit for a while due to personal reasons. Still, I didn't mean for it to be this long. Okay, you've been patient enough. Here's the next chapter._

**Chapter 23**

Have you ever read a story or seen those movies where the main character or characters somehow end up being completely alone in an entire city? Whether by surviving some kind of disaster, going into some alternate universe or even the stoppage of time, they end up all alone in a city, country, maybe even the whole world. I've read a book or two on that subject as well as watched a few movies, and while I always thought of that idea as unbelievable, there was a time or two that my imagination would run wild, and I'd wonder what it would be like if I was suddenly the only person in Metroville. All alone in a region once populated by millions of people. Better yet, why don't you close your eyes and imagine if your own town or city was suddenly totally deserted. What would you do? How would you cope? Well, I'm sure that some of you would take that as the chance of a lifetime, running around a deserted city and doing things that you would normally not do. But me, I would be terrified as hell if I ever found myself in that situation. The hustle and bustle of Metroville was as normal to me as breathing, and to find myself in what would effectively be the world's largest ghost town would freak me out beyond belief just by its sheer _absence _of activity. Imagine it, mile after mile after endless mile of houses, apartments, businesses, malls, offices, public parks, vehicles, roads, expressways, all empty, completely uninhabited. Kind of scary, huh?

I wouldn't say that I felt that as I looked around Sandersville. I mean, sure I was scared, but that was mainly because there were at least eight people or machines somewhere around there that wanted to kill us. Yes, it was a little eerie seeing all those empty buildings and vehicles, but it had an air of fakeness around it. This place was never meant to be inhabited by people, so it wasn't as creepy as it would be if this were a real city. I looked carefully at every building around us and listened for the slightest noise. I didn't see or hear anything, but that didn't come to much of a surprise. There were so many places for them to hide, and since we didn't know what we were up against, it would probably be a good idea if we hid out as well.

"Okay, follow me," Ultraviolet said silently. "Keep low and quiet."

She began to lead us toward what looked like a dark alley, and as you would expect, definitely not a place that you would want to meet those things that were after us. However, we only got a few more steps before the simulated sky above us started to darken. In just a few moments, Sandersville went from what I assume was midday to late at night. It even had stars and a small moon to complete the illusion. The streetlights turned on seconds later, bathing most areas in a dull orange light. The buildings still remained dark, though. If this was any other time, I would've been mightily impressed, but now all it did was make our chances of surviving this all that much harder.

"Well, this is just great," Chameleon muttered.

"Shhh!" Ultraviolet hushed him harshly. "Stay quiet."

She probably said that just a little bit too harshly, but I did understand the reason why she told him in that way. We had to remain absolutely silent. They could have been anywhere inside this enormous underground city. In fact, it could've been possible that they were watching us right now and were just waiting for the perfect chance to make their move. My eyes were automatically drawn to all of the windows, doors, and corners within an open line of sight, which was a whole lot of hiding spaces. I even did my best to minimize the sound of my footsteps, which weren't even that loud to begin with. All I could do then was hope that Ultraviolet was leading us somewhere safe and that none of us would get sniped off along the way.

As we entered the alley, I took a closer look at the buildings and other objects around us. Even through we were in serious danger, I couldn't help but be amazed by the level of detail of Sandersville. I mean, this wasn't supposed to be a real city at all, and it looked like something that could've been lived in yesterday. They even went so far as to include a picture of a missing dog and a poster of a fake rock band on the wall next to us. I couldn't even begin to imagine how they built this place or how much it all cost. To add to all that, it was amazing to believe that all this was built just for weapons training. Amazing, yet sad as well.

Suddenly, Changeling stopped and turned his head to look behind us. It was like he heard a noise or maybe even seen something behind us. It made both Chameleon and I also stop walking and look back in the direction that he was looking. Once again I strained my eyes and ears to try and see if I could detect anything, and once again I didn't see or hear a single thing. Man, this was maddening beyond belief! You know how they say that total silence can be deafening? Wasn't that the truth. The silence in Sandersville was as deafening as a heavy metal concert. To me right then, complete silence was far scarier than the loudest sound in the world. I was beginning to wish that they would attack us just to break the tension. I looked back at Changeling and it seemed like he was concentrating hard, like he was still trying to hear something. Maybe his power of changing into different types of animals enabled him to have better hearing than the rest of us. Or maybe it was just a case of rattled nerves. It sure had a way of being infectious.

"Do you hear something?" Chameleon whispered to him so softly it was barely audible.

"I don't know," he answered. "I thought I did over by those buildings, but I'm not quite sure."

"What did it sound like?" I asked.

"I couldn't tell," he replied. "I'm not sure I heard anything to begin with."

"Hey, what are you doing?" Ultraviolet said to us in a low but commanding voice. "Come on, let's go."

We began moving again although the three of us took one last look behind us to see if Changeling really did hear something. Maybe he did or maybe he didn't, but the truth was that there were eight things out there somewhere, and we didn't need to hear or see them to know that fact. Did I already say that I might've had an infectious case of rattled nerves?

We didn't go much further as we rounded the corner of a building and came onto some side street. Ultraviolet immediately went over to a metal grate covering that was in the sidewalk and quietly lifted it up. She then peered down the opening for a few seconds before motioning us over.

"Okay, you three go ahead and climb down the ladder," she told us. "I'll be right behind you."

Chameleon was first down the ladder, followed by Changeling and then myself. Ultraviolet then came down the ladder, closing the metal grate behind her. It looked like we were in a subway tunnel. It was an almost perfectly circular dimly lit concrete tunnel with tracks running along the floor. This was really interesting. A few moments ago I was musing about how detailed the city above was, and now we find out that it has its own subterranean world as well. They really went all out building Sandersville. I just hoped that there wasn't a real subway train that ran through here. Nothing like rounding the curve that was just in front of us only to get pancaked that would really ruin your night.

"You guys built a subway here, too?" Chameleon said in amazement.

"Yes," Ultraviolet replied. "As I said before, Sandersville was built to be as realistic as possible. There's even a sewer system built under it as well."

"Wow." He then went on. "Uh, just one question. These tracks aren't energized or anything, right?" That was a very good question. It made me slow down a little and look down at where I was walking. I actually moved a little bit away from the tracks just in case they were.

"No," she answered. "The rails never had any electricity running through them. This place is not that real. Believe me, if the tracks were energized, you wouldn't be alive right now to ask that."

Well, that was a relief. Unless I had my mother's ability to absorb massive amounts of electricity, which I _highly _doubted, stepping on a live rail would've done just a little bit more than straighten out my hair and get rid of my split ends. We continued on to and then around the soft right curve of the tunnel. At the end of the curve was a station. It was fairly small but looked exactly like a real subway station. There was **_'WEST STATION' _**painted on a couple of the walls. Finally, sitting on the tracks was an actual three-car subway train. It looked real enough that it probably was in actual service at one time, but now, just like the vehicles above, those days were long gone. Other than what Ultraviolet said about the tracks, the realism of Sandersville knew no bounds.

"Is that a real subway train?" Changeling asked.

"It used to be," she said. "It was donated to us by the Department of Transportation when it was taken out of service."

We climbed up onto the platform of the station and went toward the last car of the train. I kept a weary eye towards the stairs to our right that led up to the entrance on the street in case something came flying down them gunning for us. Ultraviolet pulled open the door of the last car and we stepped into the dark, empty train. There was a strong musky smell, basically what I would call the 'generic' mass transit vehicle odor. If any of you had ever ridden in a public transportation vehicle, then you would know the smell that I was talking about. Changeling and I each took a seat and sat down while Chameleon and Ultraviolet remained standing.

"So now what?" Chameleon asked. "Hide here and wait them out? Try and get out of here? What?"

"We can't hide here in the train as they will look down here eventually," Ultraviolet explained. "And forget about trying to escape. There are only two main entrances out of Sandersville, and no doubt they're both guarded. The walls surrounding the entire place are made out of heavily reinforced concrete six feet thick. We're going to have to fight our way out of here, unfortunately."

"Yeah, unfortunately," Chameleon muttered.

"So what do you think we'll be up against?" his younger brother asked her.

"Probably our usual suspects, the Hummingbirds, Trackers, and Specters," she answered. "But that doesn't mean it's a certainty. There could be a few surprises. Remember, expect the unexpected."

"Um, what do you mean by surprises?" Chameleon asked.

"Exactly that. Something that even I can't anticipate. So we'll have to proceed as though something else is out there besides those three things."

"Oh, so those kind of surprises. I really hate those.

I chose that moment to speak up about something that's been bothering me for a while and even more right then. "Speaking of surprises, there's something that's been really bothering me. I was able to destroy one of those Hummingbirds easily in that corridor just after we got separated, but when I tried to destroy another one, it avoided my shot. Are those things somehow learning?"

She exhaled slowly. "I was afraid of that," she said.

"Afraid of what?" Changeling asked.

"You're exactly right," she said. "They do learn. All of them are equipped with an experimental artificial intelligence system. They're linked together to keep track of each other and programmed to learn with every new problem and encounter. They also sense if another machine is down, analyze the information that led to its loss, and figure out a way to counteract it. That means that any attack we do would work only once, maybe twice, before it becomes ineffective."

"Are you serious?" Chameleon said, barely concealing the amazement in his voice.

"Very."

"Adaptive A.I.," Changeling said in a gloomy voice. "Something else that I've read about, but I didn't think that it would work that well."

"Neither did I at first."

"What do you mean?" I asked her. It then dawned on me. "Are you saying that you helped design that A.I. system?"

"Unfortunately, yes," she replied. "It was designed for a completely different purpose but was quickly adapted for very limited military use. Believe me when I say that I didn't think it could be used in this way."

The three of us looked at her for a while, not really knowing what to make of that. Finally, Chameleon broke the very long, very awkward silence by asking, "Just what exactly is your position here? I mean, you seem to know so much about us, so it's only fair if we know something about you, you know."

Ultraviolet didn't say anything, but instead gave him a very strange look. It was difficult to tell if that was a bad look. She then turned around, facing away from us. She placed her hands on the back of the seat in front and leaned slightly over it, her head hanging down a little. Wow, I wasn't expecting that. Did he say something wrong?

I guess he thought so as well, because he immediately said, "Um, sorry I asked."

"No," she said quickly, turning back around to face us. "You're right. You do deserve to know a few things about me. How else are you supposed to trust me if you don't know anything about me, right? I suppose I would ask the same thing if I were in your position." She sighed. "Alright then, I guess I'll tell you my position here. That would explain a few things, like how I know about those things and probably even my real name, but don't…"

She stopped and looked out the window, right toward the stairs. Immediately we all heard a sound, and there was definitely no imagining it this time. If that wasn't confirmation enough, the light that was coming down them definitely was. Somehow I should've seen this coming. This sort of thing always seemed to happen right at the moment that someone was about to reveal a big secret about themselves.

"Under the seats, now," Ultraviolet ordered.

She didn't need to tell us twice. I practically dove under my seat as the light quickly flashed across the windows. I then began to hear that distinctive hum. It had to be a Hummingbird. It sounded like there was only one, but there could've been more. And besides, one was more than enough to kill the four of us if we weren't careful.

I scrunched myself up into as tight a ball as possible under the seat. My back was pressed against the side of the car. Even though I hoped that would offer me some protection, I knew that those lasers could easily blast through the thin metal walls of the subway car. I looked to see where the others were and wasn't too surprised that I didn't see them. I growled under my breath. They did it to me _again! _God, couldn't they take a little pity or compassion toward my own inability to disappear like they could? The _very_ least they could've done was remain visible so it would at least appear that we were in this together. I don't think that they even wanted to know the pretty nasty words that I had inside my head for them right then.

My dark thoughts were instantly interrupted when the light once again came in through the windows of the subway train. But this time it moved slowly across the side. It was searching the inside of the car. I curled myself up even tighter, if that was even at all possible, and watched as the light came to where I was hiding, actually passed over me, and continued on. The light moved to the back windows, then to the side that I was hiding, shining across the other row of seats. It then disappeared, moving on to the other cars. It looked like it wasn't able to see any of us through the windows, hidden or not. It also seemed like it didn't have the ability or intelligence to open doors or windows, but once again, it didn't need to be that subtle. After a few moments, I couldn't even hear it anymore. Still, there was no way I was about to stick my head up only to get it blasted off in case it was still lurking out there. I was hoping that it would go away quickly, though, because my muscles were beginning to ache and cramp up from my curled up position. I could've stretched out if I wanted to, but I was afraid that any movement would attract the attention of the Hummingbird, so I just stayed right where I was and endured the slowly but steadily increasing pain.

Almost right at the moment that I couldn't take the pain and cramping any longer, Ultraviolet reappeared close to me. She looked out the windows a few more times and then she spoke.

"Okay, you can all come out now. It's gone."

I crawled out from underneath the seat and stretched to give my muscles the relief that they were screaming for. When I was done, I opened my eyes in time to see Chameleon reappear himself and Changeling transforming back to a person from…from…from whatever he had been. He was tiny enough not to be seen, that's for sure. I groaned again and shook my head as some of my earlier thoughts came back to my head.

"You guys didn't have to do that, you know," I blurted out unintentionally.

"Do what?" Chameleon asked me, his eyebrow raised.

Oops. Well, I suppose I should continue on. "Disappear on me like that. It kind of looks like you're bailing on me and leaving me to fend for myself or something."

"Oh, um, sorry." He looked down at his feet like he was very embarrassed.

"I suppose it would look that way," Ultraviolet said to me. "I assure you, though, I'm not bailing on you, as you put it. I'm still there to protect you. But I'll tell you what, if it makes you feel any better, I'll remain visible as long as the situation remains fit for it. Is that a deal?"

"Yes," I replied. "Thank you."

"That was really close," Changeling said.

"Yes, it was," Ultraviolet agreed. "We were lucky, but it won't last much longer. Those machines have infrared vision. If we stay in here too much longer, our combined body heat will start making this car glow like a furnace. We have no choice. We're going to have to go on the offensive if we're to survive and get out of here in time."

Chameleon sighed slowly. "Well, this is really gonna suck," he said.

I chuckled softly. "That's a huge understatement," I told him.

He chuckled himself for a second, and then asked Ultraviolet, "So what's the plan now?"

"Am I the only one here that has to come up with all the plans?" she replied. She said that with a half smile so I knew that she was joking. That surprised me a little because I think that was the first time tonight that she did that, but there was probably some seriousness to it as well. "But seriously, though, I don't have a complete plan right now. It's a little hard to have one if you don't know the entirety of what's happening. So it's something we'll have to think up on the fly. I guess all I can really say is don't worry, trust your abilities and instincts, rely on one another, and we should get through this just fine." She then groaned and lowered her head. "Great, look at me," she muttered. "I'm sounding just like my mother now. I swore I'd never become like her."

It could've been my imagination, but it almost sounded like she said that with bitterness in her voice. It was true that she didn't get along too well with her mother during their last few years as a team, but there was a strong rumor that they truly hated each other. That rumor was neither proven nor disproven, but it's still the subject of intense debate even today. If it was true, then I would probably feel a little sorry for her. I could never understand how people could hate their own parents. Sure, there were times that I was really angry with my parents and yell that I hated them, but there was no way I meant that. It was just something that I couldn't fathom. Maybe when this was all over, I could ask her if she really did hate her own mother, and hopefully either way that rumor would be answered.

"Okay," she said. "We have to leave here. It's too dangerous to keep staying in one place."

She went over and pulled open one of the doors and together we stepped off the subway train and onto the platform. She was right and it looked like the Hummingbird was gone, but looks could definitely be deceiving. There was the chance that we could move right out into the open only to be ambushed. Although I couldn't see how any machine could do that here in the fairly small subway station, there was still that chance.

This time she led us down the opposite tunnel that we came in from. It was almost the same as the first tunnel except it curved differently, this time turning to the left…only to dead-end right there. A very solid looking concrete wall blocked our path. Either they never finished this fake subway line or we had reached the perimeter wall of Sandersville. Not to mention it could very well be _our _dead-end if my earlier thinking really did happen. It would've been the perfect place for it.

"Well, so much for this way," Chameleon said the exact words that I was thinking right then.

"You should be more aware of the environment around you," Ultraviolet told him. "Not to mention the ladder right next to you."

Chameleon turned to his right only to see the metal ladder that was practically right in his face. The light was very low, but I was willing to bet that he was blushing up a storm. If it made him feel any better, I also didn't see the ladder in this dim a light. The ladder was painted so dark that it seemed to melt into the tunnel. She was right and we had to be aware of everything around us. Right now it was just the ladder, next time, who knows?

Ultraviolet was first up the ladder, her dull footsteps echoing a little off the tunnel sides. Once at the top she pushed open what looked like a floor panel. She looked around for a few seconds before climbing the rest of the way through the opening. Her head reappeared moments later.

"It's clear," she told us. "Come on up."

The three of us climbed up the ladder and into what appeared to be the backroom of a store. It was completely empty of products, but had all the shelves and racks put into place. Once again, the realism of Sandersville totally amazed me. I was actually starting to think that there was such a thing as too much realism for a fake city. I mean, just so much work for something that was supposed to be just used for combat training. It all seemed so unnecessary.

Ultraviolet went over to the door that separated the backroom from the main room. With her back against the wall, she slowly peeked around the corner. A few seconds later she stepped ever so slightly into the room…and a green laser bolt came through one of the front shop windows and directly impacted her right arm just below the shoulder in a bright shower of sparks!She cried out in pain and fell back into the room, clutching her arm tightly. For a split second I thought that it was a great thing that she was wearing her super suit, but then I remembered that those lasers were designed to go right through them. It was a miracle that she still _had _a right arm to clutch, although how well it worked now was anyone's guess. The attack was so fast and from completely out of nowhere that it left the three of us totally stunned and terrified.

"God, you've been hit!" Changeling shouted. "Are you alright?"

She didn't answer him. With great pain still etched on her face, she moved her left hand and looked at her arm wound. I couldn't see her wound due to the angle of her hand, and I didn't even want to. I was still so shocked by this sudden turn of events that I was literally shaking in my boots. It was great that she was still alive, although how long that would last was now in question. If the best among the four of us was now injured, possibly greatly, then how were the rest of us going to get through this?

"Shit," she cursed through gritted teeth, mainly directed at herself. "Stupid…so damn stupid…"

Suddenly a whole barrage of laser beams blasted through the wall above and just to the right of us. We fell to the floor and covered our heads as pieces of wall and racks came down on top of us. It was an ambush! It had to have been! Almost just like I had been predicting down in the station. But how did they know where we were? It almost seemed way too convenient that they were here and we just happened to come across them. But right now that didn't matter. What mattered was trying to stay alive, and I was praying with everything that I had and then some that the lasers wouldn't come any lower. They were already close enough that I could feel the heat coming off them.

But as suddenly as the attack started, it ended almost just as quickly. The walls were full of scorched holes and broken shelves and racks. A few of them fell off the walls, clattering loudly on the floor. The air was full of plaster dust, and all four of us were actually covered with a light dusting of the stuff. Not counting Ultraviolet's arm injury, it looked like we all came through the attack relatively alright. None of us dared to move, though, in case we came under attack again.

We didn't have to wait long. Mere seconds after the attack ended, we heard the sound of a Hummingbird approaching the backroom fast. I started to move my hands toward a defensive position when the Hummingbird flew into the room, laser ready to fire. But before either of us could do anything, Ultraviolet moved her uninjured left arm and let loose a force wave, smashing the robot against the back wall. The force of impact destroyed both the Hummingbird and a small section of the wall. If she didn't have her force field still up, pieces of the wrecked machine probably would've came back towards us. She then moved her hand back to cradle her right arm, wincing as she did so. It was great to know that she could still use her powers despite being hurt. Well, one attacker down, presumably seven more to go.

"Are you going to be okay?" Chameleon asked her in a concerned voice.

"I'll live," she replied. "Believe me, I've been hurt far worse than this. Still hurts like hell, though. I still have feeling and movement in my arm, so that's good. Now how well I could actually use my arm is a different matter. I could do most of my moves with just one arm, but I prefer the use of both arms."

"Can you treat your arm like you did with my head?" I asked her.

"I could," she answered. "It would be a little slow and awkward, but I can do it."

"Do you need any help?" Changeling asked.

"No, I'll be fine."

He didn't seem all that convinced with her answer. "Are you sure?"

"Yes!" she said loudly and forcibly. She then seemed to immediately recollect herself and said in a much softer tone, "Yes, I'll be alright. It's not as serious as it looks, but I do appreciate your concern."

He only nodded, probably afraid to say anything else that could get that kind of reaction from her. I had long since accepted her seemingly unpredictable behavior, but jeez, he was only asking if she needed any help treating her wound. It was pretty much the sensible thing to do as we didn't now how bad she was hurt. But still, it was great that she was grateful for his concern.

It was then that we heard a noise. It wasn't the familiar humming sound of the Hummingbirds, but something completely different. It sounded like something rolling along the ground. I also heard what sounded like a high pitched whining noise, almost like a dozen or so supercharged RC cars all running at once. It had to be another machine, and I had a sneaky suspicion that it was the third of the terrible trio of death robots, the Tracker.

Ultraviolet heard the sound as well. She stood up slowly and turned herself invisible. We also started to stand up but we heard her say quietly, "No. Stay on the floor and keep quiet. I'll be back in a second."

We did as she told us and continued to lie flat on the floor. I could hear her footsteps move away from us and into the other room. At the same time I heard what undoubtedly sounded like more machines moving in. It was possible that we were being surrounded. Since I was still close to the trapdoor that we came up from the tunnel from, I took a quick chance and slowly opened it. I peered down into the tunnel…and was instantly dismayed to see a Hummingbird waiting there for us. Man, I really hated it when I turned out to be right. Well, the great news was that it was too big to come up the ladder towards us, but the bad news was that its top half apparently had the ability to swivel, and as a result had its sensor and laser pointed up at the door. I quickly shut the door and a moment later a laser bolt came right through it, missing my right hand by at least half a foot. I rolled away as two more bolts blasted up, making the door shatter into pieces and even causing some of the ceiling to come down.

"Wow, you okay?" Changeling asked me.

"I'm alright," I replied. "That was really close, though."

"I bet," Chameleon said. "Well, I guess we can't go that way."

I only rolled my eyes and thought, _'No, really? You think, Captain Obvious?'_

I heard quick moving footsteps and then Ultraviolet reappeared in mid-stride in the room. She looked around quickly and then seemed to focus on the ruined trapdoor. "What happened?" she asked us.

"There's a Hummingbird down in the subway tunnel," I told her. "It fired at me when I opened the door."

"Please tell me you have some good news," Chameleon begged her.

"Unfortunately, no," she replied. "There are four machines out there, two Hummingbirds, a Tracker, and a Specter. They have the front completely guarded. Before you ask, no, there's no back way out of here."

I sulked a little. That was definitely _not _what I wanted to hear. Four robots guarding the front of the building, one guarding the ladder back down to the tunnel. Out of seven remaining machines, five were here. The odds were obviously not in our favor. I then thought of something very strange. If there were five machines here, then where were the other two? For a moment, I was actually more worried about that than the immediate threat. I was quickly reminded of that, though, when we all heard something crash through the front of the building. They were on their way. So how were we going to get out of this one? Apparently Ultraviolet had a plan for that. She kept looking between the door that led toward the front and the hole left in the wall when she destroyed that first Hummingbird.

"Alright, here's the plan," she said. "There's no way we can face off against four of them at once, especially in this small a space. And we obviously can't go back down into the subway. So that…"

She stopped and tilted her head slightly as though she heard something above the crunching noise of one of them moving into the front room. Then her eyes widened slightly and she quickly turned around, forming a semi-spherical force field around us that protected us on three sides. Suddenly, there was an explosion that destroyed most of the front wall. Chunks of the wall impacted and bounced off the field. If she didn't put it up at that moment, all of us probably would've been seriously hurt or even killed by that explosion. But we were now completely exposed to the three robots, and the two Hummingbirds immediately opened fire, their shots being absorbed by her field.

"I'll hold them off," she said in commanding voice. "You three go through that hole in the wall and get away from here."

"What?" Chameleon nearly shouted. He was clearly shocked, as were both Changeling and myself. "But you can't hold them off by yourself! You're already hurt! You need help!"

The Tracker then opened fire, and another explosion hit directly against her field. She visibly winced in pain. It was like the hit hurt her, although it was hard to tell if that was because of her arm injury, or if that it was possibly a weakness of hers.

"I can't hold them off for long," she said, her voice sounding slightly strained. "Just go through the hole, get away from here, and try not to get sighted. I'll meet back up with you if I can."

"But…" Chameleon tried to protest once more.

"_GO, NOW!" _she yelled.

I was still shocked at what she was doing and what she wanted us to do, but I also knew that she was right, as much as I really hated to admit that. It just didn't seem fair at all. It was like she wanted us to abandon her. She was already injured, how badly no one knew, and while she had her field up, it looked like with each passing second and hit, she was losing strength. But she was keeping it up and holding the robots at bay for the three of us to get away, and if she said that we couldn't fight the robots at this time, then it was best that we believed her. Chameleon looked like he wanted to argue some more, but he closed his mouth and then quickly moved through the hole. His brother was next, and then I started to go through but stopped and turned back to look at her.

"Stay safe," I told her.

She only nodded her head and gave me a quick smile in return, and then I was through the hole. We looked to be in some back alley. Without saying a word to one another, we got on our feet and sprinted away from the building as fast as we could.

We didn't get too far before we heard a loud explosion, followed by two duller ones, then what sounded like a collapsing building. We stopped dead in our tracks and turned around. That definitely sounded like it came from the building that we just escaped from, where Ultraviolet was. We couldn't see the building itself because we were behind another one, but a few scenarios and outcomes were already going through my head, all of them bad. I tried to reassure myself that she knew what she was doing, I also knew that she probably wasn't at her best. And for the third time in three days, I felt the guilt creeping in, but this time it was in overdrive. Almost unconsciously I started moving back toward the building, but I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Chameleon and he was shaking his head slowly. I almost broke away from him and went on, but I stopped myself. He was right. Ultraviolet held back those machines so that we could get away. She herself said that the four of us couldn't fight them in a small enclosed space. Going back to see what was happening could result in all of us getting killed. So very reluctantly I nodded my head and we continued moving away from the building.

After twisting our way through several back alleys, we ended back up on the main street, almost right back where we started. It was still just as deserted as before so that was good. Chameleon then started moving out onto the street and for a moment looked like he was heading toward the sealed main doors. I was about to ask him what he intended to do, but then I saw that he was actually headed toward that electronic signboard we saw earlier. That was a good idea, see how many machines were left. And since there seemed to be a lull in the action, now was probably as good a time as ever. So with that, all three of us went over to the signboard and looked up at it. I was a little surprised that it was still on and working.

"_Population: 8," _Chameleon read from the board. "Well, that's great to see. Four down, four to go. Almost equal footing."

"It could also mean three supers and five machines," Changeling said.

Chameleon sighed. "Damn, you really know how to kill a great mood, you know that?"

I agreed with him at that part, but his brother was also right. As much as I was thinking, and praying, that it was the four down, four to go part, we also had to take in the possibility of what Changeling had just said. We once again were left in the dark as to what happened to Ultraviolet at a time when we were separated. While I would've loved to have been an optimist and think that she would pull through just like the last time, I also had to be a realist and say that her arm wound was probably the defining factor this time around. So with not knowing what happened to her and possibly not knowing that for a while, we had no real choice but to press forward and maybe fight our way out of here ourselves.

"Come on," Chameleon said. "Let's get out of here. We can hide out in that shop over there."

He led us toward a nearby shop that was just across the street from the signboard. He looked through the windows to see if there was anything inside before opening the front door and motioning us in. It looked like we were in a china shop. There were shelves and glass display cases full of china, but it was highly unlikely that any of it was real. We went over and hid behind the only display case that wasn't glass.

"So, now what?" he asked. "Do any of you any plans?"

I don't know why I did it, but I suddenly unloaded on him. _"Why _do you keep asking that? Does it even remotely look like we have any kind of plan to you? Maybe you should quit asking other people about plans and come up with one yourself for a change!"

Both he and his brother looked at me like I had totally lost my mind, which probably wasn't all that far from the truth at that moment. "Well, _excu-u-u-se _me," he said. "I just wanted to know if you had any suggestions. I'll quit asking then."

I started to open my mouth for a snappy comeback, but quickly clamped it shut. No, we were _not _going to do this again! We had just begun to understand and trust one another and we didn't need anything to come in between that, especially now. Why did I even do that to begin with? He was only asking for ideas. He didn't deserve a response like that.

"I'm sorry," I apologized. "I don't know why I blew up on you like that. I know you were just asking for our help. No, I don't have any ideas to offer you, sorry."

He nodded, gave me a reassuring smile, and then said, "You're worried about her, aren't you?"

It was like he hit the nail squarely on the head. That seemed to be exactly the reason. "It's kind of hard not to be," I said. "I mean, she's already been hurt, so she's probably not at her peak. I just don't think it was right to have to leave her like that."

"Hey," Changeling said. "It'll be alright. I didn't like it either, but she probably knows what she's doing. She's an Incredible, after all. A little arm injury's not going to stop her."

I chuckled a little bit. "You're saying that with a lot of assurance, you know that?"

"Yeah, well, it's either that or the other option and think she could be dead. Personally, I like to be a little bit optimistic in these types of situations."

"Me, too," I agreed.

"I don't know about you two," Chameleon said, "but I think it's time we started helping her out. It seems she's been doing most of the work tonight, and I don't think that's fair."

"Well, she is far more experienced at this than all three of us," his brother pointed out.

"Well, yeah, but it's still not fair. We are supers ourselves. We should be there to back her up, especially now."

"And what do you suggest we do about it, Mr. I-Haven't-Got-A-Plan?" I challenged him.

"Actually, I have been coming up with some ideas, thank you very much. I just need some way to make them work, that's all."

"Maybe if you tell us what your ideas were, we could help you out with that," Changeling suggested.

He nodded. "Alright, then, here goes. I was thinking that we should try to lure out one of those robots out into the open. Maybe one or two of us could do that. Then we could go for the classic pincer attack. One or two of us could come in from the side or from behind and, well, take it out somehow."

I actually thought about that in detail for a few moments. It really did sound like a good plan. The huge problem with that, though, was that there was no guarantee that it would work. These things were just too smart, and presumably were getting even smarter with every encounter. Also, which one, or two, of us would do the luring, and the other do the actual attacking? I was convinced that just shooting fireballs at them would no longer work. Not to mention the act of luring one out into the open without getting killed in the effort. That said, it looked like a solid plan, and maybe all three of us could work out the kinks in it to make sure it would work.

"Sounds positive," Changeling said. "We just need an idea on how to make it work, that's all."

"I know that," Chameleon told him. "That's what I'm trying to figure out, but if any of you have any ideas, feel free to say something."

Actually, I did have something start to form inside my head, and I definitely didn't like it at all. In that scenario, since the machines had infrared as part of their sensors, it would be me that would lure them out, being quite literally the hottest thing around. Of course, being the hottest source of heat around, I would most likely be the prime target of their weapons, and after seeing Ultraviolet get hit in her arm, there was no way I wanted to experience that, especially in a more lethal place. So you could see why I was very reluctant to bring that up, even though it could've been a way for us to get out of here alive.

We were still quiet about a minute later when Changeling suddenly moved his head and then said, "You guys hear that?"

Both Chameleon and I listened carefully for any noise. I didn't hear a thing. We both looked at each other and then back at him. "Are you sure?" Chameleon asked him.

"Yes," he replied. "I'm certain now."

I listened carefully again, and at first I again didn't hear anything. But then I started to hear a faint noise that was steadily getting louder. It was the same noise that we heard outside the first shop, which only could mean that it had to be another Tracker. Chameleon heard it as well, and he motioned with his hand for us to get down. We were already well shielded from the front windows by the display case that we were hiding behind. But I suppose that it couldn't hurt to hide a little more, so we lowered ourselves even more, almost lying flat on our stomachs. The sound got louder and louder until it seemed like it was right in front of the building. I half expected it to stop right then, but it kept right on going, the noise growing softer until I couldn't hear it anymore. We still kept flat on the floor long after it passed, though, probably a better safe than sorry moment. It was only after about five minutes went by that we even began to move, although it was only to sit up on our knees. We were still well hidden behind the display. It almost seemed totally ridiculous. That thing had to be long gone by now, and we hadn't heard so much as a pin drop since then. Still, we all seemed very reluctant to stick our heads up just an inch above the top of the case to see if it really was all clear.

"Well?" Chameleon said.

"Well, what?" Changeling asked him.

"Who's going to see if it's clear out there, that's what," he replied.

There was only silence. In another time and place, this could've been hilarious, being afraid to just barely look over a case. Eventually he must've lost a little patience, because he sighed and shook his head a little.

"Okay, okay, fine, I'll do it," he said. "You two are wimps, you know."

Without wasting any time, he stood up on his knees and peered over the display case. I expected him to come back down and say that it was all clear and how we were such cowards, which would probably result in either me agreeing with him or chewing him out, depending on how he said it and how my mood was at that point. Instead, I saw his eyes go wide and then he dove back on the floor and covered his head.

"GET DOWN!" he yelled.

He had just barely got that out of his mouth before an explosion tore through the front windows and destroyed the display case to the left of us. Pieces of wood, glass, and fake china rained down everywhere, including on top of us. Changeling and I quickly joined him on the floor. What was happening this time? What was out there shooting at us? This almost seemed like an exact repeat of the earlier shop, only this time there wasn't a hole to escape through, or any door for that matter. We were trapped in there.

"What was that?" I asked Chameleon.

"It's a Tracker," he replied. "It was out there waiting for us."

"What?" Changeling was clearly shocked. "How's that possible? I didn't hear a thing. How'd it even know we were here anyway?"

"It doesn't matter. We've got to get rid of it somehow." He then looked at me and asked, "Could you be able to shoot fire at it if you could get the chance?"

Truthfully, I didn't know how to answer that. Other than the threat of getting my head blasted off the moment I poked it up over the display case, the closest thing that I could've hid behind was the case that was now all over the floor in pieces. But even if it was still intact and I was able to get over there, that point I brought up earlier still remained. There was no guarantee that a simple fireball attack would still work, which meant that we had to become more creative in dealing with them from now on.

Before I could answer his question, the Tracker fired again, this time hitting the wall just in front of our case. That was so close that I actually felt the heat and shock, not to mention more debris that fell on us. The shock also rattled my head, making it hurt slightly again. That was far, far too close, and I was a little surprised that we were still alive after that.

"Okay, that's it," Changeling said, getting slightly up off the floor. "I think it's time we went on the offensive. I've got an idea."

He had an idea? What kind of idea was that? But before either Chameleon or I could ask him, he began to change. His green and gray super suit, as well as his face and mask, began to distort, melt together, and change color. You know, after already seeing him change from a dog to himself and then to a mirror copy of me, you would think that I would be used to that by now. That was partially true and I knew what to expect this time around, but it was still very freaky and very nasty to look at. His body continued to change until it was a grayish brown color. He also seemed to be growing fur and shrinking down in size. When his transformation was complete, he had turned into a…_a mouse? _I raised my eyebrows in surprise and even blinked a couple of times to make sure I was seeing what I thought I was seeing. Yep, he was a mouse, all right. I was highly confused. What did turning into a mouse have anything to do with defeating the Tracker? I turned to Chameleon with the question in my eyes. He only shrugged in reply, so he was obviously as confused as I was. Changeling then scurried off to the other side of the case and we couldn't see him anymore.

"Oh, no," I heard Chameleon groan suddenly.

"What?" I asked him.

"I think I know what he has in mind," he replied.

"Well, what is it?"

Before he could answer, we both heard a metallic groaning sound and then a whirring noise. We both risked a look over the case to see what was happening. The Tracker was tilting heavily to its right side, its left track spinning freely. Under it was Changeling transforming again, but it didn't look like he was turning back into a human. I now understood what his plan was. He changed into the mouse so he could get under the machine without being detected, or being too small to hit. It then looked like he would tip it over by changing into something else. The Tracker then fired, but it seemed to be more of a blind shot than anything, completely missing the inside of the building. Finally, he was able to turn the thing completely over, and it fell on its side with a dull crash. Funny, it didn't look so menacing laying on its side, but it was probably still best if we kept our distance.

"Well, I suppose that's one way to deal with them," Chameleon said. "But what's he doing now?"

He was still changing, become much bigger and turning totally gray in color. When he was done, he had turned himself into a rhino. Alright, so what was his plan now? The answer came immediately, as he backed up a little and then charged the overturned Tracker, slamming into the bottom of it with his huge horn. The impact drove both him and the machine through the front of the shop and then along the wall, tearing off shelves and smashing plates. Chameleon and I both jumped out of the way as they both went right though the display case that we hid behind and then into the back wall, knocking off even more shelves and plates. When he backed up, we saw that his horn had actually punctured right through the bottom of the machine, leaving a huge, sparking hole. The top of it was also pretty smashed in as well from the impact with the wall. Needless to say, it looked like that Tracker wasn't going anywhere or be a threat anytime soon.

When he transformed back to his regular self, he said, "Well, I guess that answers the question of what happens if you unleash a large animal inside a china shop."

Chameleon groaned, placed his hand over his eyes, and shook his head. "Lame, really lame," he said.

"Well, I thought it was pretty good line," his brother muttered.

"How did you ever come up with that idea?" I asked Changeling.

"It was actually an old idea that I thought up a while ago," he told me. "It was supposed to be a way to be a way to keep robbers or other people like that from fleeing a scene. It was that, and some quick improvisation."

"In any case, great job," Chameleon said, giving his brother a pat on the shoulder. "That now leaves three machines."

"Maybe," Changeling added.

"Okay, _maybe _three machines left. Let's see, that would mean there's a Hummingbird and two Specters out there."

I quickly took a glance outside the smashed front of the shop. I didn't see or hear anything, but I knew that they were out there, somewhere.

"So how do we beat them?" Changeling asked.

"Very carefully," Chameleon replied.

"I think we should try to find Ultraviolet as well," I added. "She could help us with this, if she's alright."

"That's a good idea," he said. "And don't worry, I'm sure she's fine."

"I'm not worried," I said, which was very far from the truth.

"Sure." He started walking toward the front. "Anyway, we're kinda wasting time just standing here. Let's go out there and show them what we're made of."

Changeling scoffed at that. "What are you, some kind of army sergeant?"

"No, that was supposed to be a pep talk," he replied.

"Oh, so you're a football coach."

"Well, what did you want me to say? _'Let's go out there and hopefully get them before they get us'_?"

"Sure, why not? It would've been close to the truth."

Chameleon growled and threw his hands up a little. "Let's just go, now."

I chuckled softly at their little exchange. They did provide some amusing entertainment at times. Anyway, we followed him to the front and stepped out through the broken frame of the door, taking us back out onto the main street. We looked around, and once again, saw that it was all clear. At that point, I decided that I couldn't tell what was worse, actually fighting those machines or standing on an empty street and not seeing anything. Both were seriously rattling my nerves.

"Okay, let's go find her," Chameleon said. He looked around a little bit and then added, "Of course, if we could find our way back there."

"You mean you're lost," I said. "Perfect."

"Hey, it's not as if I know this place like the back of my hand," he shot back.

Changeling pointed to an area of the city just across the street and to our right. "We came from that area over there," he said. "We could attempt to backtrack from there."

"Well, I guess it's worth a shot," Chameleon said. "Come on, we'll run into something soon enough."

You know, you would think that the moment those words left his mouth, that would initiate the perfect setup. And you know what? That's exactly what happened. We definitely ran into something, all right, and it was far sooner than we intended. We had barely gotten across the street when my aerial nemesis suddenly zoomed in from above a building to the left of us. If that wasn't bad enough, the other one appeared from the opposite side and joined the first one. Well, we found the two Specters that were supposed to be here, or more accurately, they found us. With all that's happened so far tonight, I should've expected it or at least seen it coming. Unfortunately, I didn't in either case. So now we were left completely exposed and not in a position to defend ourselves.

"Scatter!" Chameleon shouted.

I didn't know if that was the correct thing to do in that situation, but it definitely seemed like the best one by far. We each took off in different directions. I ran back across the street and into an alley. I didn't dare look back as I was afraid of what I would see. I was actually convinced that at least one of the Specters were following me, probably for the reason that I took one of them down earlier and wanted revenge on me. Yeah, I know that's really stupid, but you just couldn't tell with these machines. So I continued running as fast as I could down several alleys, through a building, and ended up on a side street.

It was there that I took a risk and looked around to see if I was really being followed. I wasn't. I stopped for a moment to catch my breath. The moment I did, a huge dizzy spell hit me. It made me feel a little sick. I swayed quite a bit and then bent over, placing my hands on my knees to steady myself. It didn't help one bit. Finally, I just sat down on the ground with my back against the wall of the building that I passed through a moment ago. My legs were up to my chest, my arms were folded on top of my knees, and my head was rested in my arms. A part of me knew that sitting there like that left me in a vulnerable position, but I just wanted the dizziness to go away.

I don't know how long I sat there before it finally did start to go away, but only by a little bit. It was just enough to let me think somewhat, though. So if I hadn't been followed by a Specter, that could mean that one or both of them were after Chameleon and Changeling. I really was hoping that they were okay. I never saw where they went. I just turned around and ran for my life when Chameleon told us to scatter. Not only did I not know where everyone else was, I didn't even know where I was. Of course, that's what you get if you run blindly, and it didn't help that you were in an unknown area while you did that. I was certain that it was going to take a while to find them. Ultraviolet said that Sandersville was the size of nine football fields. I had no idea how big nine football fields actually were, but it sounded very huge. That was going to be my first duty, trying to find the others while avoiding the remaining machines. Now if only the buzzing would stop so that I could start sooner. Wait a minute, _buzzing?_

I slowly raised my head from my arms. Then my eyes moved slowly to the right. Then my whole head moved slowly to the right. And right there, just six feet away, was the lone Hummingbird in Sandersville. I froze solid. I didn't even hear it until it was practically right there. That could explain why I hadn't been followed by a Specter, or it could've been just sheer chance that it stumbled onto me. But whatever it was, I made a possibly fatal mistake, and any move that I did could bring that end even faster.

Before either of us had a chance to do anything, however, the Hummingbird was suddenly blindsided by a purple shockwave, sending the machine careening into a building across the street and exploding into pieces. It was so quick that I wasn't sure what happened at first, but when Ultraviolet appeared around a nearby corner, it answered that question just as quickly. It was great to see that she was fine, but she did look a little messy and disheveled. What had she been into between then and now?

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"I'm okay," I replied. "Just a little dizzy right now, that's all. What about you? What happened to you?"

"I'm fine, for the most part," she said. "Yeah, I do look a little messy. Of course, that's what happens when part of a building falls on top of you. But what matters is that five of those machines are now destroyed."

"Six, actually," I told her. "We got a Tracker a while ago."

"That's great," she said. "So that leaves the two Specters to deal with."

"I know," I said. "They both appeared above us just after we beat the Specter. We had no choice but to scatter in different directions."

She nodded. "I see. So where are Chameleon and Changeling now?"

"I don't know. I didn't see where they went."

"Where were all three of you when you separated?" she asked.

I thought for a moment, and then replied, "We were on that street that all of us were on when we first came in here, near that electronic signboard."

She nodded again. "I know where that is. Well, I suppose we should head back that way and then search from there. Are you okay enough to walk now?"

"I don't know. Can you help me up?"

She held out her hand and I reached up and took it. She pulled me up to my feet and I was immediately hit by a brief but powerful dizzy spell. I swayed and staggered for a moment while she held onto my shoulder to steady me. The spell passed by quickly and I felt better, for the most part anyway.

"Better now?" she asked.

"Yeah," I replied. "You know, I kinda wish that you could treat my injury some more."

"Believe me, I did pretty much everything that I could for it right now," she said. "What it mostly needs now is just time and tender care. I don't think it's serious enough to require medical attention, not unless you keep taking shots to it. Just be careful and you'll be fine."

"Okay," I said, then added, "Thanks for saving my life, by the way."

"No problem, but it was more to do with luck than anything. It was actually after me, and I had a hell of a time trying to beat it. I guess when it saw you, it got confused for a moment and it gave me the chance I needed. Still, it was like I said earlier, you must be aware of the environment around you at all times. Failure to do that can get you killed."

"Okay, but it seems like you didn't follow that rule yourself, you know." I was indicating the injury to her arm.

In case you haven't figured it out by now, I had a tendency to blurt things out that I never meant to say. That was one of them. She was giving me a weird look, and I thought that I might have gone too far this time.

She surprised me though by saying, "That's true, I suppose. I guess I have to start following my own advice. Anyway, we're wasting precious time. Let's go find them."

I thought about that last part as we went back down even more alleyways. I guess that meant I had to pay more attention to areas around me. I was also surprised yet again that she basically admitted to having a lapse of her own. That probably meant that even the best of supers had wandering minds at times. About a minute later, we made it back out to the main street fairly close to where the three of us were just five minutes earlier. In fact, Ultraviolet quickly noticed the ruined shop that we hid out in as well as fought the Tracker in.

"What happened there?" she asked.

"That's where we fought the Tracker," I told her.

She looked at the building some more, and then asked, "I have to ask, how did you three manage to beat it?"

"It was Changeling that did it," I explained. "He turned into a mouse to get under it, then turned into a rhino and flipped it over and then charged it into a wall."

If I didn't know better, I would say that she looked a little shocked by what I'd just told her. She continued to stare at the building for a while, then, "I have to see this for myself."

I thought that it was a little strange that she wanted to see a destroyed Tracker, but I just shrugged my shoulders and thought nothing more of it. We went back over to the shop and she hopped through one of the many broken windowpanes while I just went right through the broken door. I half expected it to be gone by now, but there it was, still just as destroyed and lying under broken shelves and plates as before. She went over to the machine and looked it over for a moment before kneeling down and running her hand over it. I think that was the first time tonight that I actually saw a look of genuine surprise on her face.

"You said Changeling did this by changing into a rhino and ramming it?" she said.

"Yes," I replied.

She turned back to the machine and shook her head. "Amazing," she said. "Just incredible. These things were supposed to be designed to take much greater impacts than this. If the designers and technicians knew back then that a Tracker could be taken out in such a way, it would've sent the whole project back to the drawing board for months, maybe even a couple years."

"I guess we should thank them for their little oversight then, huh?" I said.

She chuckled a little. "Maybe, but I think that it would be best if we kept that secret to ourselves, don't you think?"

I let out a chuckle of my own. "Yeah."

Suddenly we heard what sounded like laser fire. It was hard to tell where it was coming from or even how far away it was, but the sound was very distinct. Ultraviolet was on her feet immediately and started for the front.

"Let's move," she ordered.

We ran out of the shop and out into the street, looking around frantically for any sign where that sound came from. Unfortunately, there wasn't any. I then looked slightly upwards and an idea came to mind. I thought that if I could fly and get above these buildings, I would be able to see where the shots came from, hopefully. I was just about to tell that to her when we heard more shots. It came from somewhere on the other side of the street and sounded much closer than before.

"We have to get up," Ultraviolet said. She then pointed to a building across the street. "Head for that building and go up the stairs to the roof."

I did as she said and ran toward the building that she pointed to, with her following right behind me. I ran into the building and immediately saw a staircase to the right of the entrance. I then tore up the stairs two at a time up all four stories and then hit the door at the top with both hands held out, hoping that it wasn't locked. It wasn't and it flew open, spilling me out onto the roof. I quickly saw that from that height, I could see almost the entirety of Sandersville. It really was a huge place. As much as I would've liked to see more, I didn't have time for it right then.

I immediately saw one of the Trackers just ahead. It was quite a ways from the building. It was moving slowly and in a weird way, like it was following something. That was confirmed when I saw it shoot a couple of times at the ground. It had to be going after Chameleon, Changeling, or both. Ultraviolet was next to my side a second later, looking at the same thing.

"Alright, I want you to fly over there," she told me. "Head to that tall building next to it. Keep behind it so it doesn't notice you. If you can help it, don't do anything until I get there, understand? Okay, go."

I nodded and she took off and went back down the stairs. I quickly formed my aura, lifted off the roof, and flew toward the building that she pointed out, making sure to keep behind the machine. By flying over Sandersville, it took just less than five seconds for me to reach the building. I fouled up once again and landed mostly on my knees, skidding along the roof and then going into a tuck-and-roll. I wasn't concerned with it at all this time, though. I was quickly on my feet and ran toward the edge. The Specter was much closer, but hadn't noticed me. It was still preoccupied with its chase. It fired again at someone between buildings really close by.

Then, from between two buildings almost right next to mine, Chameleon and Changeling came running out. Changeling was clutching his side and moving awkwardly. My God, had he been hit? Before I could call out to them, they disappeared behind more buildings. The Specter was hot on their trail. I knew that Ultraviolet told me not to do anything until she got there, but I thought that this could be a time to intervene. It went behind a building before I could shoot a fireball, though. A few seconds later, the door to the roof opened and Ultraviolet came running over to me.

"Where is it?" she asked, slightly panting.

"It's over there," I told her, pointing to the building that it went behind. "It's after Chameleon and Changeling. I think Changeling's hurt. He was holding his side."

"Could you tell if it was serious?" she asked.

"No."

Just then they both reappeared again. Chameleon looked around for a moment, and then led his brother down a nearby alleyway. The Specter was following close by.

"Oh, hell, that's a dead end," she said. "Stay here and cover me in case the other one appears. I'm going down there to help them out."

When she said that she was heading down there, I thought that she was going to take the stairs. But she totally shocked me when she jumped right off the edge of the building! A four-story building, I might add. She formed a spherical force field around herself and when she hit the street, she bounced up into the air once, dissipated the field, and landed perfectly on her feet, almost directly in front of the Specter.

"Showoff," I couldn't help but mutter.

She didn't miss a beat. She held out her right hand and enclosed the machine in another field. She then closed her hand into a fist, and the field actually began to shrink. The Specter was instantly crushed and then exploded inside. She released the field and the charred pieces of the saucer fell to the street. I was amazed by what I just saw. I never knew she had an ability like that. She then ran down the alley that the two boys went down a moment earlier.

I saw movement out of the corner of my eye to the right. I turned my head in that direction and saw that it was the second Specter, the last machine to deal with. It was moving toward the alley that all three of them were in. It looked like it was going to pass directly under me to get there. Since I had to assume that simply shooting a fireball at it wouldn't work anymore, I had to come up with another idea. One quickly came, and it was an idea so stupid, so suicidal, that I couldn't believe that I was even thinking it. But since the Specter was literally seconds away, there wasn't time to come up with another one.

"God, I can't believe I'm doing this," I said to myself.

When the Specter was about to pass, I timed it and then jumped over the edge and right onto the Specter! The machine immediately lost altitude and then took off like a rocket. There were handle like things on each side of the saucer that I held onto in an iron grip as I was being taken on the ride of my life, in both senses of the word. The Specter flew over the street, buildings moving by in streaks and blurs on both sides. The saucer then peeled upward and then took off in another direction, upside down! I was still able to hold on, but it was much harder. I now had a much more scenic view of Sandersville, but wasn't enjoying it at all due to obvious reasons. After a while of flying upside down, the saucer righted itself, flew almost straight down for a second, then shot in yet another direction. It moved so fast that I nearly flew off, but still managed to barely hang on.

I had more than enough of this crazy ride. How was I going to beat this Specter now that I was riding it? The answer was right next to my right hand. It was some kind of access panel. It needed a key to open but since I didn't have one, I was going to have to open it my way. After the saucer made a few more erratic moves, I made my own move. Hanging on with my left hand as tight as I could, I placed my right hand on the panel and let it glow red-hot. My hand quickly melted through the panel. Looking into the newly formed hole, I saw circuit boards and lots of wires. I didn't know which ones would stop this thing, but I remembered a saying, _when in doubt, rip 'em all out._

And that's exactly what I did. I reached inside, grabbed a bundle of wiring, tore that out of the saucer, reached in and did it again. Sparks flew out of the hole and the Specter shut down. I was happy for exactly a split-second, but then I remembered that I was still riding what was now essentially dead weight. It was the perfect Wile E. Coyote moment, and if this was a cartoon, I definitely would've had an exclamation point over my head. I saw that I was careening toward the third story of a building. There was no time for me to get off the out-of-control saucer. I could only brace myself and hope the impact wouldn't kill me.

Luckily, the saucer mostly went through a window than solid wall, but I still felt the impact as well as the chunks of debris that hit me. Immediately afterwards, the Specter hit the floor and I was knocked loose. I was sent rolling on the floor and hit a nearby wall, and then the dead saucer landed on top of me! Fortunately, all of its weight wasn't pressing down on me, but it was still enough to trap me underneath it. I couldn't move it by myself. I was going to have to wait until the others came to be freed. Still, it was great to know that we beat all eight machines. We were safe, for the time being, at least.

And then, a totally random thought went through my head. _'You are one sad flying super, you know. All these times flying, and you have STILL yet to land on your feet.'_

That thought sent me into an uncontrollable bout of laughter. I quickly tried to stifle it, and only succeeded in laughing even harder. Yep, it was official now. I had definitely lost my mind. I had just barely managed to control it when Ultraviolet found me about five minutes later. She looked down at me like she couldn't believe what I had done. I couldn't believe it myself. I then said the only thing that came to mind.

"Well, that was a very interesting flight."

And of course, that sent me into another round of laughter. She only shook her head slowly, but I swore that I saw a smile on her face while she did that.


	24. Going for the Jugular

_Author's note: With me now working on a second story, I haven't been working on this story as much as I used to. Don't worry, I haven't abandoned this story and we're now a few chapters away from the end. I also want to make a quick shout out to the fans who reviewed my story. Thank you very much._

**Chapter 24**

I think that I had a brief surge of optimism in the time that it took me to stop laughing. It seemed like for the first time since this whole adventure started, I was truly starting to believe that as long as the four of us were together, we would stop the missiles and save Metroville before dawn. The voice in the back of my head was warning me that I was just setting myself up with that, but I didn't care. It was a great, if only temporary, feeling, and I really needed a lot more of them to get through this. There was also another feeling deep inside me, one that was very strange and unfamiliar. I couldn't say that it was a bad feeling, just a very weird one. I thought about it for a few moments before giving up on what that feeling was and then filing it away in my mind for another day.

"I take it that you're alright," Ultraviolet said after I had finally stopped laughing, the small smile still on her face.

"I think," I told her. "Hold on." In the time between my two laughing attacks, I hadn't checked my body to see if I had been injured in the crash. I was able to move my arms and legs alright, although my legs were a little restricted as they were pinned underneath the lifeless Specter. Other than that, I was perfectly fine. "Yeah, I'm fine."

She shook her head again. "You know, that was one of the bravest things I've ever seen any super do," she said.

I was totally floored by that, no pun intended. For a second, I wasn't sure that I had correctly heard what she had just said. "What? Really?"

She nodded. "Yes. I'm serious about that. Believe me, I've seen a lot of brave things done by supers, and I have to place what you did in the top three of my list."

Wow, if I thought that I was in a great mood before, then it was nothing compared to what I was feeling now. An actual praise from Ultraviolet! Maybe that wild and terrifying flight was worth it a little bit.

"Should I be flattered?" I asked her.

She chuckled a little. "No, you don't have to be. I just wanted to let you know that."

"Thanks so much for that compliment," I told her, smiling a little myself. "That means an awful lot to me."

"Well, it was either that or scold you once again for doing something so stupid and reckless," she said with another small chuckle. "But I think you're getting tired of that. But honestly, though, I meant every word of it. What you did was very brave, probably in some ways even braver than what I would've done at fourteen."

"You're kidding," I said, not even bothering to hide the surprise in my voice.

"No, I'm not," she told me. "I wasn't always brave and daring, you know. But that's another story for another time. Come on, let's get you out from under there."

She looked around the dead saucer and then underneath it. While she did that, I asked her, "Where are the boys?"

"Probably still looking for you," she replied. "We didn't know where you went down, so we spread out in different directions. I only saw the hole by chance, and if I didn't happen to just glance over here, I would've walked right by."

"So I guess that means you pretty much lucked out in finding me, huh?" I said.

"No, we would've found you eventually," she said. "This place is pretty big, but there's only so many areas where you could've crashed. Besides, I would say that you're the one who's lucked out. I mean, you came through this with no injuries or broken legs. Very lucky, indeed."

"I think we've all been lucky so far tonight."

"Maybe," she told me, "but remember, it's not over yet, so you should probably save that for later."

I only nodded, realizing what I had just said. Being somewhat of the superstitious type, I had now probably doomed us to failure. Of course, the night was far from over like she had said, but a lot could definitely happen between now and then. She continued to look around the Specter for a few more moments and then stood back up.

"Okay, I think I could move it with a force field," she said. "It'll be tricky, though, so hang on."

She placed one hand on top of the saucer and her other underneath it. She closed her eyes and had a look of intense concentration on her face. I watched as she created a field that was basically skintight around the machine, then looked on in amazement as she flipped the saucer over and off my legs, and then set it down on the floor. It wasn't the fact that she could create skintight force fields that amazed me since I knew that she could do that, although I never actually seen her do that before. I think that what amazed me was how she easily moved something that must've weighed hundreds of pounds like it only weighed a few pounds. She was a tall and somewhat muscular woman, but I knew that she couldn't be that strong. Bodybuilders would probably have trouble lifting a Specter, at least by themselves. Granted, she never actually lifted the thing and more like rolled it over, but I was certain that anyone else would have trouble just accomplishing that. Those force fields of hers were amazingly strong. Besides, it felt great to be finally freed from underneath that thing. My legs felt kind of weird, but I was certain that it was due to the lack of blood to them instead of unknown injuries.

"Thanks," I said. "That feels much better."

"No problem," she replied. "Do you feel any pain in your legs now? Sometimes you don't feel any unless the weight is removed from them."

"No, but they do feel weird," I told her. "I think that's just a lack of blood than anything else."

"That sounds about right. Can you get up?"

"Maybe with a little assistance."

She held out her hand and I took it. She pulled me up to my feet and I had to walk around a little bit as my legs were somewhat stiff. It took a few moments for that to subside.

"Okay, let's go find the boys," she said.

We started to walk toward the stairs with her leading the way. However, we only got about halfway there when I saw her right leg suddenly buckle underneath her. She fell to the ground, clutching her right thigh and gasping in obvious pain. My god, what had just happened to her? Was she shot in the leg? I didn't see anything hit her. It looked like her leg just gave out or something. I was immediately by her side and heard her whisper to herself, "God, not now."

"Are you okay?" I asked her. "What happened?"

"I'll be fine," she said through gritted teeth.

I wasn't convinced at all. "Are you sure? I mean, you don't look-"

"_I said I'll be fine, dammit!!" _she shouted.

The force of her voice actually sent me falling backwards to the floor. I was shocked by what she had just done. Why did she yell at me for? All I wanted to do was help her. A few tears threatened to spill from my eyes as I started to feel rejection and then a little anger. She saw this and immediately her face softened.

"Oh, God, I'm so sorry," she said softly. "I didn't mean to do that. I don't even know why I did that. It was stupid and irresponsible of me. I'm not fine for the moment. Can you help me against the wall please?"

I just stood there not moving for a moment then nodded my head and helped her against the wall. She was still rubbing her thigh. To tell the truth, I didn't know what to think of her at that moment. Part of me knew that it was an accident and that she didn't mean to lash out at me, but the other part was starting to get tired of her rollercoaster moodswings, praising us one moment, then biting our heads off the next. How were we supposed to work together comfortably if we had to keep dealing with that? I didn't know if I could, and it was getting harder and harder to keep myself from saying something to her that I would sorely regret.

"Sit down," she said. "I think there's some things that we need to discuss."

Once again it took me a while but I eventually sat down next to her on the floor. She took a couple of pills from her belt and swallowed them. It looked to be the same pills that she gave me earlier. She took a deep breath, looked at me, and started speaking.

"Look, I know how you must be feeling towards me at the moment, and I completely understand. My behavior has been less than stellar at times…oh, let's just say it. I've been acting like a complete bitch, and there's no excuse for that. Believe me when I say that you and your friends didn't do anything wrong. In fact, you've helped out more than you could possibly know. So, will you accept my apology?"

It took a few moments, but I nodded. "I forgive you. We were kind of curious as to why you seem so cold at times. You don't have to answer that if you don't want to, but I would like to know."

She nodded. "Fair enough, but please understand that there are certain things about that answer that I'm not ready to speak about. Alright, remember when I told you earlier that I had someone in my life a long time ago? That has mostly to do with it. I'm not going to explain the whole story, but in a way it was that relationship and the end result that made me like this."

"What was his name?" I asked.

"Tony Rydinger," she replied.

"And what happened to this Tony Rydinger?"

She sighed loudly. "He's dead, and no, I don't feel like explaining how that happened."

I only nodded, then asked, "He wasn't abusive, was he?"

She shook her head, "No, of course not. He was perhaps the sweetest boy that you could ever meet. And that's why what happened to him was even more tragic." She sighed again. "I'm starting to say too much, so let's just move to something else."

"Okay," I said. I noticed that she was still rubbing her right thigh and asked her about it. "What happened to your leg?"

"It's…an old injury that I received during a mission," she replied. "It will go away in a few minutes. It always does." I could easily tell that there was more to that than what he said, but I didn't press the issue. "Now might be a good time to treat my arm injury while I wait."

She took something from her belt and then began to move it across her arm wound. I actually took a look at it this time and saw that the skin was slightly dark and inflamed, so it looked to be more of a bad burn than anything. Something caught my eye. Coming out from underneath the torn edge of her suit was something deep red. She was wearing something else underneath her suit, and it took a moment for me to recognize it. I gasped out loud as I was totally stunned.

"What?" Ultraviolet asked me with a curious look on her face.

"Are you wearing your Incredibles suit underneath that?" I asked.

She looked at the tear and then reached across with her other arm and pulled up the red fabric. "Yes, I am," she replied.

"But why? I mean, you just got that suit."

I swear that she actually had a sheepish look on her face. "Call it a little luck," she said.

"Wait a sec, I thought you didn't believe in superstition," I said with a smile.

"I don't, well, not mostly, anyway. And no, I didn't just get this suit. My suit is actually the prototype for the entire line of nanotube super fabric supersuits. It's a little more than four years old. Also, I'm still kind of used to the Incredibles design as I hadn't worn any other style before tonight, so old habits die hard. I guess that it's just a comfortable feeling wearing it."

"So why didn't you have it made in the Incredibles style?" I asked.

"Edna, mostly," she replied, which didn't surprise me at all. "She was hell bent on a new style for me, and it did make sense since the family was starting to break up. We figured that it was time to move on to newer things."

"I figured that it was because of…" I stopped myself, once again cursing myself for opening my mouth before thinking.

"Figured what?" she asked me with a raised eyebrow.

I sighed. "Well, I figured that it had to do with, um, you and, uh…your family…"

"Oh, that," she said in a lower voice. "I can totally understand why you would think like that with all the rumors. I admit that there were problems in my family, quite serious problems at times, but I don't hate them, and I especially don't hate my mother. I never did. I know why people would think that and I can totally understand that, but we never once hated each other, although I will admit that our relationship has been rocky at best. But why that's the case is something that we don't discuss outside the family, so don't ask."

"Okay." I looked into her eyes, took a deep breath, and asked the question that's been on my mind all night. "What's your name, your real name? I have to know."

She looked at me for a few moments and then did something totally surprising. She reached up and pulled off her mask. She then brushed back her long hair, allowing me to see her entire face. She was a very pretty woman. She actually looked to be quite young, even though I knew that she had to be in her early to mid thirties. She then held out her hand and said, "Violet H. Parr, Director of Operations, Commercial Systems, at your service."

Almost unconsciously, I did the same thing and removed my own mask. I actually felt a little naked without it, given where we were. It just seemed to be the right thing to go at that moment. I took her hand and shook it. "Jessica M. Wells, um, high school freshman student. Of course, you already knew that."

It took a few seconds for me to realize that I totally recognized her. She was my dad's boss, well, sort of. She was the project leader of the _MagSpeed _train, the same major project that he was working on. As such, I've seen her on TV a few times discussing the project, and I think that Dad talked about her a few times at home, not always in a positive light. Those few times that she was on TV, she was always wearing a professional business suit and her hair that was fairly loose now was almost always in a bun, but one time she wore it in a long braid. So, the biggest mystery of the night was finally solved, other than the reason behind this latest plot against Metroville. Ultraviolet was really Violet Parr, Director of Operations, Commercial Systems, in her normal life. One of the higher-ups, indeed. That would make her among the top ten, most likely the top five, of the business personnel at ATI. That definitely explained why she knew so much about the machines and everything else that was happening. In the event that something did happen to all of us, it was great to know who she really was. I then quashed that immediately.

We put our masks back on, and then I asked her, "Can I ask you a really personal question?"

"Sure," she said.

"Are you scared? I mean, are you as scared as I am right now?"

"Of course," she replied. "What, you think because I've been doing this for twenty years that I don't get scared anymore? Believe me, every single time I put on the suit I got scared, although those first few times I was actually more terrified than scared. Ask any super that question and I guarantee you they'll tell you the exact same thing. I mean, it might not seem right for a super to get scared, but it's very normal and helps you a lot to avoid getting killed. In fact, any super that doesn't get scared doesn't deserve to be one, as it makes them reckless and a danger to both the public and themselves."

I smiled a little. "Don't take this the wrong way," I said, "but it makes me feel a little better to know that you're just as scared as I am."

"I won't," she told me. "I've been there, remember?"

I noticed that she had stopped rubbing her leg. "Is your leg alright now?" I asked.

"Not quite," she replied. "I could move now if I wanted, but I would be limping badly. I just need a few more minutes."

We were quiet for nearly a full minute, then something else popped into my mind that I wanted to know about her. "You were about our age when you went to that island, right? What was that like? Was it as bad as this?"

"I was fourteen, yes," she answered. "I can't tell you the whole story since it would take too long, but there are some similarities between Nomanisan and this. I don't want to compare anything since they're all bad. As I told you a moment ago, I was mostly terrified those first few times, and far more so then because it was my very first ever."

"Were you ever scared of your powers?" I asked.

"Not really," she replied. "Well, that's not entirely true. I was pretty freaked out the first time they appeared, but I bet anyone would be if half their body suddenly disappeared." She chuckled a little bit and then continued. "Anyway, I wasn't so much as scared of my powers as I was of the inability to use them when the time came. Of course, at that time we still didn't know if the ban would ever be lifted. In the slim chance that it was, I figured that I'd be ready for anything. Boy, was I ever wrong."

"Why? What happened?" I asked.

"Not very many people know that we weren't supposed to be on that island together as a family," she said. "It was originally supposed to be Mom going there by herself to rescue Dad. The only reason that Dash and I went was because he seemed to be worried about what was happening and got me to go with him. As you could imagine, Mom was very angry with us when she discovered us hiding in the jet she was using to get there. But that quickly changed when we saw that a few missiles had been fired at us. She was able to lose one, but the others stayed with us. It was then that Mom told me to project a field around the plane to shield us, and my worst fear came to life. I had years of practice with my powers and thought I was ready for anything, and what did I do? I completely froze up, unable to do anything. Mom was able to save us before the missiles hit, but can you imagine how I felt afterwards? Worthless and guilt-ridden were probably the least of my feelings. Mom told me that special saying that I told you earlier, but she seemed to feel as bad as I did, if not worse. But like I said, that would help me a lot for what would happen later, and I hope that it'll help you out as well."

"It has," I told her. I thought for a moment, and then added in a half-jokingly way, "You know, you now have an obligation to tell me the rest of your little adventure when this is done."

She chuckled and said, "It's a deal." She then stood up very slowly and then tested out her leg, bouncing up and down slightly and putting some weight on it. "My leg's much better now. So why don't you say we go end this thing, shall we?"

"I'm with you there," I agreed.

She nodded and together we started to head toward the stairs. However, we only moved a couple of steps before we heard running footsteps coming up from below. It sounded like there was more than one pair as well. Ultraviolet quickly motioned for me to hide behind the corner of the wall as she started to go invisible. I went behind the corner but peeked back out from around in case I needed to help her. I kept both of my hands hidden and made them glow slightly in case that I had to use them. The footsteps were near our floor and I was preparing for the worst. I was immensely relieved when I saw that it was Chameleon and Changeling. It looked like they were about to head up to the next floor, but stopped when they saw the Specter. I came out from behind the corner as Ultraviolet reappeared. They looked as relieved to see me as I was seeing them.

"Are you alright?" Changeling asked me.

"Fine," I replied. "About time you two got here."

"Well, forgive us, we were only searching for you in an area the size of nine football fields," Chameleon said with a small smile. "It took a while for us to even see the hole in this building. I have to admit, you have an awful lot of guts. I've never seen anything like what you did. I don't think that I could've done anything like that. You've an extremely brave person."

"Thanks," I told him, "and don't you dare add 'for a girl'."

He laughed. "Believe me, it didn't even cross my mind. You're probably braver than a lot of boys that I know."

It was then that I noticed that Changeling had a scorched tear in his suit on the left side of his abdomen. Remembering that I saw him clutching at it and moving somewhat awkwardly earlier, I asked him, "What happened to you? Are you okay?"

He chuckled a little. "I got tagged by that Specter," he told me. "Don't worry, it's nowhere near as bad as it looks, but it's still stinging a little."

"Okay," Ultraviolet said, getting our attention. "Now that we're all here, I can explain our situation. It's now very doubtful that we'll have enough time to stop the last two missiles. We might now have to go straight for the jugular to end this."

"The jugular?" Changeling asked. "You mean, Mr. Harriman, right?"

"Exactly," she replied. "I'll be truthful, going that route would be much more dangerous, and there's no guarantee that it would work. He might not even still be in the complex, but at this point, we need to make a gamble."

"Where would he be if he was still here?" Chameleon asked.

"The administration center, almost dead center in the facility," she said. "It's pretty much the only place that you could control everything here. It's also a heavily secured building, nearly impossible to get into, unless you know the proper codes and ways."

"And I take it you know them."

"Most of them, not all. Some things I never knew to begin with, and other things I did know once but they changed it. I have an idea on how we might be able to get there, but that depends on how the situation is."

"But what happens if we can't get to him in time or if he's not even here?" Changeling asked.

She was silent for a few seconds, then said, "Then we must do what we can to stop them, whatever the cost. Are you ready?"

The three of us nodded our heads. I really didn't like how she said that, but I knew that she was right.

She nodded herself. "Okay, let's go."

We left the building and headed toward one of the buildings that led up all the way to the ceiling. Once inside we went up the staircase toward the top. There were so many stairs that I began to tire out about halfway up. However, I couldn't tell if it was because of the stairs or because of all the action finally catching up to me now that some of my adrenaline was dropping. I wasn't alone in being tired, though.

"Whew, you guys could've put in an elevator in these buildings, you know," Chameleon said, slightly out of breath.

"Think of it as exercise," Ultraviolet told him. "You do need to be somewhat in shape if you're going to be a super."

"Yeah, yeah."

About a minute later we reached the top floor of the building. It was totally empty except for a folding ladder propped against one of the walls. I was starting to wonder why she led us there when I saw her get the ladder, move it to a spot under the ceiling, and unfolded it. She then climbed up the ladder and then pressed against a panel on the ceiling. It opened up and she moved it out of the way. She peered up into the new opening for a moment before climbing up inside.

"Come on up," she said from inside. "It's clear."

I was the first to climb up the ladder and into what looked to be another duct. More cold air was blowing through it, and once again it made me start to shiver. Changeling was right behind me and then his brother followed. Chameleon shut the panel behind him, plunging the inside into complete darkness. Wanting to help out some, I made my hands glow just enough to give us light to see.

"Thanks," Ultraviolet told me. "Now follow me."

She led us straight down the duct for a while and then down another that branched off to the right. We were being careful not to make too much noise as we moved through the duct. She then turned down another that went to the left and then yet another that went right. For a second I was wondering if she knew where she was going and wasn't leading us around in circles, but I figured that she did. She was supposed to be the Director of Operations of Commercial Systems after all, whatever that meant.

We soon came up to a vent that had low light coming through it. I ceased the glow of my hands as she moved up to it and looked through it. She then grabbed onto the vent and carefully pushed it open. She climbed out of the duct and into wherever we happened to be.

"Stay here for a moment," she told us.

I risked a peep out of the open vent a few moments after she left. It looked like we were in some kind of warehouse, which meant we had to be back above ground again. I found myself hoping that we stayed there that time as it was becoming kind of tedious moving back and forth between the two. I also hoped that she hurried up and came back so that I could get out of that freezing duct.

"What did you see out there?" Chameleon asked me.

"It looked like a warehouse or something," I told him.

He sighed. "Back to another warehouse again, huh? You know, I really hope this is the last time we move through these ducts."

"Why, are you claustrophobic?" Changeling asked with a chuckle.

"Hell, no," he replied. "I just hate going through them. I'm starting to feel like an earthworm."

"I just want to get out of here so I don't freeze to death," I said, slightly rubbing my arms.

Chameleon laughed a little. "Jeez, what is it with you being so cold in these ducts? I mean, sure the air's a little cool, but it's not like we're in the Antarctic."

"I'm just cold, alright?" I said, slightly more harsh than I intended.

"Okay, okay. Just wondering, you know."

It was then that Ultraviolet came back and stuck her head in through the open vent. "Okay, you can come on out," she told us.

The three of us climbed out of the duct and into the slightly dark warehouse. We were behind several large stacks of crates so I couldn't tell how big it was. It didn't seem like the one that I crashed through earlier, though.

"Cold?" Ultraviolet asked me.

"Huh?" I then realized that I was still rubbing my arms. The air in the warehouse was cool, but a lot warmer than in the duct "Oh, um, yeah, a little."

I saw a hint of a smile on her lips, then it was quickly gone. "Follow me."

We went around the stack of crates and then around another. It was almost like a maze. It seemed to be a good place to spring some kind of trap. I was certain that she searched the place so it had to be empty, I hoped. I got a little curious and wondered just what was inside all of those crates. Hopefully, it wasn't any more machines as we already seemed to have had our fill tonight.

After navigating around a few more stacks, we made it to a side door. Ultraviolet opened it very slowly and carefully peered outside. She then opened it wider and motioned for us to follow her out. We were back outside, but it was in a more darkened area. I could hear a few voices, but they sounded far away. She broke into a very light jog while hugging the building and we did the same. We stopped at the edge and she looked around the corner. Once again I took a risk and looked with her.

There was a pretty sizable building in front of us. It was at least three stories high and its façade was totally covered with stainless steel and reflective glass. It looked very modern and high-tech. There were very few lights on inside the building. The whole perimeter was lit up very brightly so we couldn't sneak in the dark towards it. If that wasn't bad enough, four guards were standing by the entrance. We needed to come up with a really good plan if we wanted to get inside. I also had time to think that I saw that building before. It took a few seconds for me to remember that I saw a part of it in that picture that I looked at back in my house earlier.

"That's the administration building," Ultraviolet said in a very low voice, already confirming what I suspected. "That's where Harriman should be if he's still here in the complex. Those guards pose a problem, though."

"How come?" Chameleon asked. "I mean, can't you just go invisible and knock them all out or something?"

"I could if I wanted to," she replied, "but it could make too much noise and alert him. Right now, a stealthy approach is paramount if we want to keep him contained."

"There's no other way inside?" I asked.

"There are two other entrances," she told me, "but they're probably guarded as well. The only way inside the building is through those doors."

I looked back at the entrance and the four guards in front of it. It just seemed so unfair. We were possibly so close to ending the threat for good, and yet it looked like we wouldn't be able to get in through the front door. There had to be a way to get by the guards. If only we could use our powers on them without making too much noise and getting detected. Since time was now getting very short, it only made it just that much more urgent. Unfortunately, I had absolutely no clue on how we could do that. Hopefully, one of the others could come up with some kind of an idea.

It seemed like Changeling could read my thoughts or something, because he quickly came through. "I think I have an idea."

"What's your idea?" Ultraviolet asked him.

"I could change myself into one of them," he explained. "I could maybe say something like having the supers pinned down and need help getting them. Maybe I could get them to come with me."

"Wait a minute," Chameleon said. "Are you sure that's a good idea? How do we know they'll fall for something like that? They looked to be pretty smart so far. You could walk out there only to get blasted away."

"Maybe, maybe not," his brother said, "but I think we have to take that risk." He then turned to Ultraviolet and asked her, "What do you think?"

She was silent, looking like she was thinking the plan over. After about thirty seconds passed, she then said, "It could work, but that's only if the situation stays the same. We couldn't have any surprises."

"Do you have any suggestions?" I asked her.

"I do, actually," she replied. "We just need to get at least two of them to come over."

"Why two?" Changeling asked.

"I have a plan to get in," she said. "Go ahead and start changing. I'll go invisible and be right beside you in case something should happen. You two stay here and don't move until we get back."

Chameleon and I nodded while Changeling began to change. He grew bigger and taller while his skin and suit started turning muted colors of gray and black. Lines began to form all over his body that began to turn into outlines of clothing and then into actual separate clothing. When finished, he looked completely like one of the real guards. It was almost scary by itself.

"Well, what do you think?" he asked in a much deeper, much rougher voice.

"Perfect," Ultraviolet said.

"Where the heck did you get the ability to change into a guard?" Chameleon asked him.

"From the guy that we dragged into that room earlier," he replied.

"So basically, you're taking the identity of another guard then."

"Well, I wouldn't put it like that."

"Okay, let's go," Ultraviolet told him.

Changeling started walking while Ultraviolet turned invisible and I presumed was following him. I was getting more nervous with each passing second. What if the plan didn't work at all? Not to mention that if it did, what would we do when he led them back here? I hoped that Ultraviolet had that part of the plan covered. Chameleon and I watched from around the corner as Changeling broke into a jog once he got out into the open.

"I don't like this," Chameleon whispered to me.

"Have faith," I whispered back.

Just then we heard Changeling yell to the four guards. "Hey, you guys! We have the supers trapped back here! We need a couple more guys to help flush them out!"

For a second, I didn't think that it was going to work. However, I was shocked when two of the guards actually started to follow him! It was working!

"I don't believe it," Chameleon said, his own shock evident in his voice.

I couldn't really believe it, either. However, that didn't mean that everything was going smoothly. The plan could still fall apart if we weren't careful. Chameleon and I had to duck back behind the building as they came closer. I could still hear their footsteps, though. What was going to happen when they came back behind the building where we were? We were shrouded in shadow so that could help out a little. It turned out that I didn't have to worry about it. The exact moment that the two guards came into view, their heads suddenly smashed together with a loud crack. They both slumped down to the ground like rag dolls. Ultraviolet reappeared behind them and together both she and Changeling dragged the now unconscious guards behind the building. She then grabbed two sheets that happened to be there amid some junk and twisted one of them tightly into a makeshift rope. She went over to one of the guards and used it to tie his hands and feet behind his back. She moved over to the second one and I thought that she was going to do the same thing to him, but she really surprised me when she started to remove his uniform.

"What are you doing?" Chameleon asked her.

"Continuing the plan to get us in there," she told him.

We watched as she continued to take off the man's uniform piece by piece until it was totally off and he was only in his underwear. She twisted the other sheet and bound his legs and feet. She then put on the uniform. When done, she looked just like one of the guards. The helmet hid her face so the other two guards probably wouldn't be able to tell who she really was. I had to admit that the uniform looked a little too loose on her. She had about the right height, but not the bulk. Still, hopefully it would be just enough to get us inside, and even though I didn't exactly know the plan, I think that I knew what she had in mind.

"You look kind of good in that," Chameleon said.

"It's not my style," she said, her voice slightly muffled by the helmet. She then picked up the two weapons that the guards had carried and handed one to Changeling.

"Okay, now just walk towards them," she told both Chameleon and me. "Just act naturally and keep your hands behind your heads. Don't worry, we have you covered."

I didn't like this at all, but there didn't seem to be much of an option. I also trusted her completely. Chameleon and I both put our hands behind our heads and started walking with both Ultraviolet and Changeling behind us. They kept their weapons not quite pointed at us so at least there wasn't the chance of them accidentally shooting us in the back. We emerged out into the open and headed toward the two guards. One of them pointed in our direction but they still kept their guns lowered. So far, so good.

"Where are the other two?" one of them asked.

"They were able to get away," Changeling told him. "We were able to get these two, though."

The guard nodded and we continued to approach them. I honestly could not believe that it was working so far. I did my best to act naturally, but I couldn't help but feel a little terrified. Of course, as I was supposed to act like I had been caught, it probably made it all the more authentic. Right when we got up to them, Ultraviolet moved me off to the side and then aimed her weapon right at the guard's face. Changeling did the same thing to the other.

"Drop your weapons and put your hands up," she ordered them.

"Wha…?" Both guards seemed to be shocked by what was happening and remained still.

"Do it now!" she yelled.

They quickly dropped their weapons to the ground and raised their hands. It almost seemed comical how fast they did that, and probably would've been at another time.

"You, turn around and open that door," she told the guard that she was holding. "Don't try to do something stupid."

He complied and typed in a code on the keypad next to the door. There was a beep and then a couple of clicks as the door unlocked and then opened.

"Move," she told them.

They walked into the building with their hands up with us right behind them. We were in what I assumed was the lobby of the building. It was very wide and extremely polished. There was a wide stainless steel covered reception desk in front of us with the ATI logo and slogan on the wall behind it backlit in blue lighting. Just like the building itself, the lobby looked modern and high tech. Add to the fact that about half of the lights were off and it looked almost sinister in a way, like the entrance to a supervillain's lair.

Ultraviolet was kind of herding the two men down the left hallway. At the first doorway that we came to after passing the desk, she ordered them to stop in front of it. It was a solid metal door with another keypad lock.

"Open it," she said.

The guy punched in the code and the door opened. Behind the door was a very short hallway that led to another door. I was beginning to wonder where she was taking us. It definitely looked like a place that was very secure. I didn't think that Mr. Harriman was behind that door as I pictured him to be in an area a little more, well, grandiose. The second door had a card reader lock by it. This time, Ultraviolet simply reached over, grabbed the card for the guard's belt, and ran it through the reader. The lock beeped and unlatched. She pulled the door open and we saw what appeared to be the security center for either the building or the whole complex. The room was dark but was slightly lit up by an entire wall full of screens, some small, some big, some in color and the others black and white. There was a panel full of switches, button, and knobs, some of them blinking in different colors. Sitting in front of all that were two more guards who obviously weren't expecting us.

"Ah-ah! Don't even think about it," Ultraviolet told them before they could reach for their own weapons that happened to be sitting on the panel just inside their reach. "Stand up and get away from that panel."

They stood up from their chairs and backed away with their hands raised. The other two guards joined them and she had all four of them stand against the wall while she went over to the panel and took the weapons.

"Take these," she said, handing them to Chameleon.

"You know you're not gonna get away with this," one of the guards said. "You're already too late to…"

"Hey, did I say you could talk?" she told him. "No, so just stand there and keep quiet."

She tapped some buttons on the panel that made the entire bank of screens fizzle and then go dark. She then motioned for us to leave. The three of us moved out of the room with her backing out behind us, keeping her weapon aimed at the four guards. Right when she got to the door, she reached under her uniform pants, pulled out something small, pressed the top of it, and then tossed it into the room. She then slammed the door shut and then projected a force field against it. Moments later, there came a lot of banging against the door and a rattling of the handle, but since the door opened out, there was no way to open it with her field pressed against it. It only lasted a few seconds before the noises faded and then quit altogether. She kept the field up for a few moments longer before releasing it.

"What did you do to them?" Changeling asked her, starting to change back to his regular self.

"I just gave them some sleeping gas," she replied. "They should be out for a few hours."

"Wait a sec, you had sleeping gas bombs on you this whole time and you never used them until now?" Chameleon sounded incredulous. "That could've helped us out a lot, you know."

"Maybe, but I couldn't use them in an area where the gas would affect us as well," she said. "This security room is mostly sealed off."

We went back out into the hallway, where Ultraviolet stripped out of her stolen uniform. Now back to her black and purple super suit, she took all of the gathered weapons and went over to a small door that was on the wall. She opened it and tossed the weapons inside. They were clanging as they went down some kind of shaft. She then shut the door and turned. It looked like she had some kind of relieved look on her face.

"Would you have used that gun on the guards?" I asked her.

"Not if I could help it," she replied. "I really hate guns. Let's go."

We went back down the hallway, around the front reception desk, and down the other hallway. As before, we didn't go too far down that hallway before we came up to what looked like an access panel. She pulled it open and looked up inside some kind of dark shaft. I could see a few bundles of cable inside. She got into the shaft and started to climb up.

"Come on," she told us quietly.

We followed her into the shaft and climbed up with her. It was so narrow that it was barely wider than us. My back kept rubbing up against the cables that were inside. Unlike the other vents that we crawled through earlier, this one was perfectly vertical and the air inside was warm.

"What is this?" Changeling asked.

"This is one of the fiber optic shafts," she answered. "It was made this wide in case technicians needed to work on the cables."

"Barely wide enough, it seems," Chameleon said. "But why are we using it? What's wrong with the stairs?"

"Too risky," she said. "Besides, this puts us much closer to Harriman's office."

We climbed up the shaft to the third floor. When we got there, I was out of breath and hanging onto the ladder with my right arm hooked around it. I wasn't cut out for this much of a workout and I found myself hoping that all this was going to end soon because I didn't think that I could take much more. I could tell that Chameleon and Changeling were probably feeling the same way that I was. I looked up at Ultraviolet and wondered how she could keep on going. She was at this a lot longer than the three of us so she had to be used to all of the physical exertion. I was certain that she could eventually tire out just like the rest of us, though. No one could be like a machine.

She pushed open the access panel and peered out of the opening for a moment before opening it up all the way and climbing out. We got out behind her and stepped out onto the third floor of the building. The floor had thick gray carpet and wood panel walls. There were a few plants sitting on pedestals on the floor and some very expensive looking paintings hanging on the wall. This whole floor was shouting executive level. It seemed so unlike an area where a major villain would hide out, but since this was my first time doing this, I didn't have anything else to base that on.

Ultraviolet pointed down the hallway. It was obvious that she was indicating where his office was without speaking out loud. We nodded and together we started walking down the hallway as quietly as we could. I had no idea what to expect once we rounded that corner that was getting ever closer. Hopefully there wouldn't be anyone there and we would have a straight shot at Mr. Harriman. However, for all we knew there could be more guards or, heaven forbid, more machines. I was desperately wishing that I could control my breathing, sweating, and heartbeat, but was failing at all three. If anything, it only got much worse.

Much sooner than I would've liked, we made it to the corner. Ultraviolet looked at us and nodded her head. We nodded back. We then went right around the corner…and it was just as I feared. Four armed guards were in front of a set of double doors. She put her force field up to protect us while they raised their guns at us.

"Hold it right there," one of them told us. "You're not going anywhere."

Ultraviolet sighed slowly. "Do you really think you have a chance against us?" she asked them. "You might as well let us go by. We're going to get in there anyway."

"You supers, always thinking you're so much better than the rest of us," another one said. "I bet you all would be nobodies if you didn't have those so-called powers."

"Oh, really?" she said. "If you're so sure about that, then let's make a deal. You four versus myself. No weapons, no special powers, just nothing but raw fighting talent. I win, we go in there and end this for good. I lose, and we'll surrender quietly and without a fight."

"Wait a sec, are you sure this is a good idea?" Chameleon whispered to her. "I mean, what if…" He stopped when she shot him a glance.

The four guards glanced at each other, as did the three of us. What was she doing? Was she that good enough to take on all four of them by herself without using her powers, especially with an injured arm and leg? She sure had a lot of confidence in herself.

"What is this, some sort of trick?" the first guy asked.

"No trick," she replied. "I'm a woman of my word. I'll even let you have the first punch."

I take that back, she had a whole _boatload _of confidence in herself.

A couple of the guards laughed as all four of them tossed their weapons aside. She lowered her field and stepped forward. I didn't like this at all. She was gambling with everything that we were doing.

"It's your funeral," the first guy said.

She just stood there as the men approached her. The first guy was the one that threw the first punch, or at least tried to. She ducked under it, then grabbed his outstretched arm and proceeded to knee him a couple of times in his gut before swinging him into another guard. They both went down in a tangle of limbs. The other two guards rushed her at the same time, but she easily took care of both of them at the same time with a jumping spin kick to both of their heads. They both fell to the ground totally out cold. The fourth guard was able to free himself from under the first and came at her. She sidestepped him and gave him a rough push from behind, sending him staggering into one of the plants. His head went through the potted plant and he slid down onto the floor covered with dirt and pieces of the broken pot. The first guy was still laying on the floor, clutching his gut and groaning. She went over to him and knelt down by him, looking him in the face.

"See, I told you I'm a woman of my word," she said. "I let you have the first punch. Too bad it was so slow, though." Then with a quick punch to the face, he was out cold.

We were still staring at her in total shock as she stood back up and turned to face us, brushing her hair back and letting out a sigh. She took on four guards by herself and won, and she did it so fast and effortlessly. I suppose I should've seen it coming, considering all that I've seen her do so far. I guess that confidence in herself was very well placed. I wished that some of it could rub off on me, though.

"Wow, you've gotta teach me some of those moves," Chameleon said.

"We'll see," she said with a chuckle.

We all turned towards the pair of wooden double doors. There was a gold plaque to the right of the doors that read, _JOHN C. HARRIMAN. CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER. ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES, INCORPORATED. _The man who was responsible for all this was probably behind those doors. What was going to happen when we opened them? What would be waiting for us inside? Maybe more guards? Maybe more machines? Maybe Mr. Harriman himself? Or maybe none of the above and it would be totally empty? The only way that we would know for sure was when we went through them. When we went through them. I sighed to myself. I really didn't want to do this, but we had no other choice. He had to be stopped. Millions of people were counting on us. Hopefully, we were going to find out everything that we wanted to know, especially the reason why he wanted to destroy Metroville. On a personal level, I wanted to know what he did to both of my parents. I saw Mom on Ultraviolet's little TV thing earlier, but I still hadn't seen Dad. I was praying that both of them were still alright. Hopefully, this was all going to end in the next few minutes.

"I'm going to break the door down," she told us. "You three might want to stand back. I have no idea on what to expect."

We took a few steps back. Once we were clear, she launched a force wave at the doors. They completely splintered into dozens of pieces. She dove to the side in case something happened. When nothing did after a few seconds passed, she cautiously approached the very dark opening and then went inside. We waited a few more seconds before we went to the opening but remained just outside of it.

I saw a beautiful looking office. It had lush, red carpet, more potted plants and pictures, two leather chairs sitting in front of an expensive looking desk, a bigger chair behind it that was turned to face the windows, which had an excellent view of the facility, by the way, a computer on the desk, and even a huge fish tank on one of the walls. The sound of the filter of the tank was the only sound in the room, as the glow of the tank was the only source of light other than what was coming in from the hallway. Unfortunately, what it did not have was Mr. Harriman. He was gone. I couldn't help but feel incredibly disappointed. All that for nothing. Ultraviolet went over to the big chair and looked into it.

"Crap, he's not here," Chameleon said, sounding as disappointed as I felt. "We must've missed him."

"No," Ultraviolet said in a low, slow voice. "He's here."

We all looked at her. "What do you mean?" Changeling asked.

She didn't answer, but instead turned the chair around, and in that chair was the dead body of a man, a hole in the middle of his forehead…

"Oh, God," I groaned as the bile started to rise in my throat. I quickly turned around, placed a hand on the wall, and tried not to throw up. Chameleon came over to me and placed his arm around me.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked.

"I don't know yet," I told him.

"Just hang in there. Take slow, deep breaths."

I did just that. While I did that, I heard Ultraviolet say behind me, "He's cold. Rigor mortis is also starting to set in. It means he's been dead for a while. Maybe four hours, possibly longer."

"What happened?" Changeling asked. "Did he kill himself?"

"I don't think so," she replied. "Looks like he's been murdered."

"Murdered?" Chameleon asked. "By who?"

"A possible ally, perhaps?" his brother offered.

"No," she answered. "This is something different."

"Wait a minute," I said, feeling somewhat better and turning back into the room while trying to keep my eyes off the body. "If he's been dead all this time, then who's been controlling the facility? Who's voice did we hear in Sandersville?"

"Yeah," Chameleon joined in.

"It means that Harriman wasn't alone," Changeling said. "He must've had a partner."

"Well, that's just great," Chameleon muttered. "We have another guy on the loose and we have no idea who he could be."

"What do you think?" Changeling asked Ultraviolet.

When she didn't answer, we all turned to look at her. She looked to be very deep in thought. After about thirty seconds passed, she looked as if a light bulb went off inside her head. Her eyes widened slightly, then closed as she let out a slow breath and placed her hand over them, shaking her head.

"Of course," she whispered. "God, I've been so stupid, such a huge idiot."

"What?" Chameleon asked. "What is it?"

"We've been after the wrong person this entire time," she said, more to herself that to us. "I knew that it was all too easy. Who else could take control of the company? Who else had access to everything here? Who else worked on nearly everything here?"

"Who is it?" I asked.

Before she could answer, a crackling noise came from an overhead speaker, and then, _"Ah, I see you've figured it out, Ultraviolet. Such a shame, too. I've enjoyed seeing all four of you run around the facility for a while, but now it's time to end this."_

A small hatch opened on the ceiling and something fell from it. Ultraviolet started to shout something, but the object burst into an unbearably bright light that overloaded my senses. The brilliant light then faded into a somewhat merciful black.


	25. Revelations

_Author's note: Well, here it is, probably the chapter most of you have been waiting for. You know the drill, so there you go._

**Chapter 2****5**

For the second time that night, I began to regain consciousness after being totally knocked out. For the second time, it seemed like my brain was waking up before the rest of my body so I couldn't move anything just yet. However, that was where the similarities ended. It took much, _much_ longer before the beginnings of what could even be considered consciousness began to take hold. The next thing that I realized what that I couldn't remember a single thing, absolutely nothing at all. My mind was a complete, total blank. I didn't know who I was, where I was, and what I was doing. All that was there was a thick, gray fog. There was…something, though. It was so deep within the fog that it was just barely noticeable, but it was there. I wasn't sure exactly what it was, but I think that it was telling me that I had to wake up as it was critically important. That was definitely a lot easier said than done, though. However, if I felt as bad when I woke up as I felt right then, I wasn't sure if I wanted to.

The next thing that I felt was the tingling all over my body, as well as the pain in my eyes. It literally felt like my nerves were being shocked and the insides of my eyes had been burned. I couldn't see anything, but that was because I still had my eyes closed, and since I still didn't have full control of my body just yet, I couldn't open them and know if there was any damage to my eyes. All I could really do at that moment was just try to get through the fog in my mind and wonder what exactly happened to me…or was it us? Yes, I was beginning to think that I wasn't alone. There was a boy, no, two boys and a woman. What were their names? Commander? No, that didn't sound right. Ultralight? That wasn't right, either. Their names were right there but just out of reach. Not even that, really. It was like I could touch them with the tips of my fingers, or whatever the equivalent was inside my mind, but just couldn't grab onto them.

There was something else as well. It had to do with my parents. They were in danger. Not just them, either. It was us, and a lot of other people. The city, the whole world? I didn't know. I also knew that something bad had happened to my mother. But what exactly was it? I knew that she wasn't dead, at least I hoped that she wasn't. I also knew that was the main reason that I came to this place, whatever and wherever this place actually was, besides saving Metroville from those missiles.

What a minute, what was that? We were there to save Metroville from those missiles? Yes, we were. I was starting to remember things now. The crazy fog that was occupying and shutting down my mind was starting to finally lift. I was there with two friends, Chameleon and Changeling, and Ultraviolet, one of the famous Incredibles. We were at the ATI Main Testing Facility outside Metroville. We were there because someone, not the CEO as we originally thought, had taken over the place and forced everyone there, including my father, to work on several missiles that carried city-destroying nanobots. We destroyed a couple of them, but there were two left. We were on our way to destroy the last two but something happened. We went through that crazy detour through that huge underground city, Sandersville, and then came back up to face the CEO himself, but we found him dead when we got to his office. There was a voice, and then…what? I couldn't remember that last part.

It didn't matter very much right then, though. I seemed to remember all the critical parts. Now if only I could move or at least open my eyes so I could see where I was at. My nerves were still tingling like crazy and my the insides of my eyes were hurting. Whatever happened to me at that unknown part really screwed my body up. As I fought to become more conscious, I was aware of a slight humming sound. I couldn't tell exactly what it was. It definitely had a mechanical sound to it, like some kind of machinery running, but there was no way to tell until I could actually see what it was. I also became aware that I was laying on a cold, hard surface. It didn't feel like concrete like the last time I was knocked out, but more of a smooth, polished surface. That could mean that I was still inside the facility, but there was a good chance that I wasn't either. I had to get my eyes open.

It took a while, but I was able to slowly creak my eyelids open. I was looking at…green? Yes, that was exactly what it was. My vision was very blurred, but I was staring at nothing but a green wall. Wait a second, that green wall wasn't solid. It was shimmering and I could see right through it. What was it, a force field of some kind? It probably was, but I couldn't tell for sure. I couldn't shake the sudden feeling that I had seen that from somewhere before. But from where, though? I was certain that I never saw a shimmering green wall before in my life. Maybe it was something to do with my messed up head. I was certain of one thing, though. Wherever we were, it looked like we weren't leaving it anytime soon.

It took a few more minutes before I was able to move an arm and a minute later for me to roll over on my back. My body felt really numb and stiff, but at least it was still movable. A small part of my mind had been wondering if I could move it at all judging how it felt then. From that position, I could see that I was totally surrounded by that green force field. There was no doubt about it, then. We had been captured and were being held prisoner. I couldn't help the scared and sad feelings that ran through me, as well as the thoughts going through my head about how much this totally sucked. My first time out as a super and I get caught. If the situation wasn't as deadly serious as it was, then I probably would've laughed. At least I was still alive. The next question was where were the others.

As if someone was reading my mind, a dark silhouette suddenly appeared above me. My eyes were still a little blurry, so it took a few moments to focus on the person. I relaxed when I saw that it was Chameleon. It was great to see that he was still alive, also.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked.

"Sort of," I replied, my voice whispery and slightly hoarse. "What happened to us?"

"I think we were hit by some sort of stun weapon," he told me. "A really powerful one, too, I bet. I'm still feeling the effects of it."

"Yeah, me, too." I looked some more at the field surrounding us. "I take it we've been caught."

"Yep" he said with a sigh. "Totally sucks, huh. I see no way out of here, either. It looks like we're going nowhere fast." He looked down and seemed to be fidgeting for a moment. At about the time I was about to ask him something, he said very quietly, "Um, Jess, you might want to turn around and look behind you."

I didn't like the way he said that at all. I was able to sit up on one arm. Then, with my heart pounding in my chest, I slowly turned my head and then my whole upper body around to see what was behind me. I saw Ultraviolet laying on the floor still unconscious, her long black hair totally covering her face. I also saw Changeling sitting up on his knees looking slightly dazed but alright. However, those two weren't what Chameleon was motioning to me about. Right next to them both was another woman on the floor. She was wearing a very familiar black, white, and yellow super suit with an equally colored helmet. I knew her all too well, and my heart that had been pounding in my chest had suddenly leapt up into my throat.

"_Mom!" _I nearly screamed out, but the word came out in more of a horrified whisper.

Ignoring how my body was feeling, I was able to crawl over to her and check her out. She was still breathing, so I was incredibly relieved to see that she was still very much alive. However, looking at her back, there was a very sizeable burn mark on her suit, on the bottom of her right shoulder blade. Comparing it to the burn on Ultraviolet's right arm, it looked likely that my mother had also been hit by one of those laser weapons. But how bad was her injury, though? Getting hit in the back very close to her heart was far different from a glancing hit to the arm. There was no way to tell. She may have been alive, but she could've been seriously hurt as well.

"Mom?" I said to her, giving her as hard a shake as I could as tears began to build in my blurred and sore eyes. "Mom, wake up. Please wake up."

I kept shaking her and begging her to wake up as my tears spilled from my eyes, over my mask and down my face. It took some time, but eventually she let out a small groan and then her eyes slowly opened. An immense wave of relief flowed through me at that moment. Her blue eyes look unfocused for a moment, then they locked onto me.

"Who…who are…you?" she whispered.

"It's me, Mom," I replied, my voice shaky with emotion. I then hugged her tightly. "Thank god you're okay."

"Jessica?" Her very weak voice was filled with surprise. "What are you doing here? You shouldn't have come here. It's far too dangerous, and you're not ready for this yet."

"I…I had to come," I told her. "Edna called me. She said you were hurt."

"Yes, I'm hurt," she said. "It's not that bad. But why are you here? God, how could you be so reckless with your own life? What were you thinking? You're not ready for this at all, and you're very lucky to still be alive. What was Edna thinking calling you?"

She obviously was very upset with me being there, and I didn't blame her at all, either. I pressed on, though, hoping to explain everything to her. "I came here to save both you and Dad. I brought some friends with me. We were able to stop two of those missiles."

Her face took on a look of confusion. "Missiles? What missiles? What are you talking about?"

I was confused myself. "You don't know what's going on here?"

"No. " She was looking more alert at that point. "What's happening?"

"Big trouble, that's what," a voice said from behind us.

We turned to see Ultraviolet sitting up on the floor, rubbing her head and looking very dazed. Chameleon and Changeling went over to her to help her.

"Are you okay?" Changeling asked her.

"I will be eventually," she replied. "That was so stupid of me. I should've seen that one coming from miles away."

"What was that?" he asked.

"It was a stun grenade," she told him. "One of the top of the line models, too."

"Who's that?" Mom asked. She moved her body around to look at Ultraviolet. She had another look of surprise on her face when she saw her. "You," she said in a neutral tone. It was very hard to tell if my mother was happy to see Ultraviolet or not.

"Hey," Ultraviolet replied. "Long time, no see."

"Yeah, very long time," Mom said. "Why are you here? Did you drag my daughter into this?"

Ultraviolet chuckled. "You still haven't changed much, have you? Still quick off the draw as always."

"Well, did you or didn't you?" My mother's voice was rising with anger. "You know damn well she's not ready for this. What are you trying to do, get her killed? I thought you had better judgment than that, especially after what happened to you that day, but I see you're just as careless and reckless as I had been."

"Hey, why are you accusing me like it's completely my own fault?" Ultraviolet said, her own anger rising. "I told your daughter several times not to get involved, but she did anyway. What was I supposed to do, leave her and her friends stranded out there in the hills? I might not be the same person I was before, but I'm not that heartless. Besides, they've been a tremendous help and I couldn't have done half the things I did tonight without them. You should be very proud of your daughter. As far as I'm concerned, she's more than ready."

I felt an enormous sense of pride and happiness right then. Ultraviolet really seemed to believe in me, despite our earlier issues. However, my feelings were tempered as Mom still didn't look convinced. I was wondering how both of them really felt about the other. I remembered Ultraviolet telling me that both her and my mother weren't really friends, but more like rivals to one another years ago. What did that really mean, though? Could that mean that they were friendly competitors, or maybe they just didn't like each other? That conversation seemed to support the latter, although it wasn't very conclusive. Still, I didn't want them to actually fight over something that was mostly my decision.

"Mom, don't be mad at her," I said. "It was my decision to come up here. It was my fault. When I heard you were hurt, I…I don't know. I figured I had to do something. If you should be mad at anyone, it should be me. But she's right, also. We did do a lot of things tonight. I know you're disappointed in me, but I hope you can be proud of me, also."

Her face seemed to relax a lot and she reached up to cup my cheek. "Oh, honey, I'll always be proud of you," she told me. "Nothing's going to change that, ever. But the reason I'm so upset is because I care about you so much. I don't want to see you hurt or even killed. I know I said that I'll support any decision you make, but I wish that you could've waited at least a little longer until you were properly trained. I don't want you to make the same mistake I did at such a young age." She gave me a small smile, and then said, "I guess I'm also very proud of what you did here, even if I don't know exactly what it was you did. Obviously you did something really great if she says you did. I always knew you'd grow up to be something special."

I could only smile myself after she said that. Despite being disappointed by me being there, and I could totally understand that, she was still very happy of what I had done so far even though we had been captured. She began to sit up and she was wincing pretty badly from her wound.

"It's okay, it's not that bad," she said before I could ask her.

Ultraviolet didn't seem convinced, either. "Here, let me take a look at it."

"I said it's not that bad," my mother repeated. "I'll be fine."

Ultraviolet sighed. "Will you stop being so damn stubborn for once and let me help you out?"

Mom looked at her for a few more seconds before she relented with a sigh and turned her back to her. "Okay, fine, take a look at it. By the way, I was never stubborn."

"Whatever you say."

I had to chuckle in spite of the situation. I really had to ask Mom what the story was between them. As Ultraviolet looked at the injury to my mother's back, I looked over and saw Chameleon and Changeling standing over by one corner of the field. It looked like they were studying it very closely, possibly trying to find a way out. I don't know if it was the reality of the situation or just plain hopelessness, but I already came to the fact that we weren't getting out of here. The force field ran from the floor to the very high ceiling above. Even if I could burn my way through the floor or ceiling, I didn't want to risk doing that in fear of possible booby traps. I took a quick look outside the field. It was nothing more than a big, bare room with what looked like a control room in front of us, a computer panel on one of the walls, and a couple of doors. That was it.

"Find anything?" I asked them.

"Nope," Chameleon said. "How's your mother doing?"

I looked back at her and saw Ultraviolet still looking at the burn on her back. "I think she'll be fine, for now at least," I replied.

"I have to ask, what's the deal between them?" Changeling asked. "Do they hate each other or something?"

"I don't know," I told him. "Ultraviolet did tell me that they used to team up a few times when they were teens, but they weren't really friends, just rivals."

"I bet they have all kinds of great stories to tell," Chameleon said.

"That's if we get out of here to hear them," his brother said.

"Do you think we will be able to get out of here?" I asked.

Chameleon sighed. "You know, I could lie and say that we could find a way out of here, but there wouldn't be a point. I could take inspiration from the stories of other supers who were able to escape imprisonment at the last moment and save the day, but I can't. Hearing their stories and seeing our own troubles are two very different things. But let's say we were able to escape from here, then what? We probably don't have any time left, and even if we were able to get to the last two missiles, we can't destroy them. They took everything off our belts. I wouldn't be surprised if they took a peek under our masks to see who we really are."

"You're being really negative right now, you know," Changeling said.

"No, I'm being realistic," his older brother shot back.

"There are always ways out of these situations," Ultraviolet's voice came from right behind us. Both she and my mother were standing there and probably heard everything that we said.

"Do you see a way out of here?" Changeling asked.

"This force field is made out of the same energy as the sonic pulse lasers," she explained. "I could go right through it with my own field, but I wouldn't even attempt it. Who knows what kind of failsafe devices are on this thing."

"I agree," Mom said. "Even if there was a wire in here for me to travel through, I wouldn't do it. This is really sophisticated stuff, way beyond my understanding. Maybe someone here can fill me in on what's happening."

"_Why do you need filling in, Electricia?" _a voice broke into our conversation from a hidden overhead speaker. Actually, it was _the _voice that we heard in Sandersville and the office earlier. _"I thought all of you had it figured out by now. And yes, I wouldn't touch that field if I were you if you want to live."_

All five of us backed away from the field and to the center of the area. I had long since hated hearing that digitally disguised voice. I hated it even more now since it didn't belong to the person that we originally thought was behind this whole thing. It was times like this that I wished that I could reach in through the speaker and drag the man out to end this.

"Well, now you obviously have me at a disadvantage," my mother said. "Maybe you can do us all a favor and tell us who you are and what's going on this time. You might as well because we'll find out eventually."

"No need," Ultraviolet told her. She then said loudly, "Come on out Devon. I know it's you who's been behind this, so no use hiding behind that speaker."

My mouth literally dropped, and so did the two boys'. She couldn't mean _Devon Woods_, the now dead vice president, could she? That seemingly nice guy that went well out of his way to help us out and it ended up costing him his life, right? He had been behind the entire thing the whole time? How was that even possible? According to Chameleon, he was dead, wasn't he?

"_What?!" _Chameleon shouted.

"Wait a minute, you don't mean Devon Woods, the vice president of the company, do you?" Mom said, some shock in her own voice. "But why would he do such a thing?"

Before Ultraviolet could answer, the door underneath the control center slid open and in came a whole squad of heavily armed guards. They took up positions around the force fields and aimed their weapons at us. Moments later, right behind the last of the guards, in walked the very much alive Devon Woods! I literally rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn't seeing things. He was still there. He was wearing a new black business suit, presumably because his other one had been destroyed. Instead of the nice and helpful look he had on his face earlier, he now had a very confident smirk as he looked at the five of us. I looked back at Ultraviolet, still not believing that she called it correctly. How did she know?

"This is impossible," Chameleon said, his voice full of tension. "I saw you take three laser blasts to your chest. I saw you die!"

"Did you now?" Devon said to him. "That's one thing of knowing the inner workings of a Specter. Good for faking one's death, you know. Speaking of wanting to know, I'd like to know how you figured it out, Ultraviolet."

"It made the most sense, that's how," she replied in a low, almost angry voice. "There were too many inconsistencies, too many things that didn't add up. There were things that John Harriman could've never done, but only you could. There's also the thing that helping out others and faking one's death is a tactic used by the guilty to throw others off your trail. I know because I've seen it many times before. It was only a matter of time before all the signs pointed straight to you."

Devon walked up to the force field and stopped just a few inches from it. He was glaring at Ultraviolet with I think was pure hatred in his eyes. He was actually frightening me.

"You were always too smart for your own good," he said in nearly the same low, angry tone that she used on him. "I was warned that you had that trait."

"So it was you this whole time?" I said, still not over the shock. "I can't believe this. You made us believe you were a good guy. We trusted you, for God's sake! How could you betray us like this?"

If there wasn't a force field in the way, I probably would've tried to punch him, or maybe do something far worse. I was furious as I felt that he had been using us, playing with us that entire though short time that we had been together. Through my anger, something came to mind. Why would he help us destroy the very weapons he wanted to launch at Metroville? Something wasn't right about that. I then felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see that it was my mother's. She was giving me a very sympathetic look.

"Easy, there," she whispered to me. I nodded and calmed down a little.

He laughed. "Betrayed you? What makes you think I was ever on your side? Now, using you to gather information and study what you could really do, that's a little more like it. You see, I detected you almost the moment you first entered the facility. So why didn't I stop you then, you ask? Because I've learned that just waiting things out and having patience can work out a lot better in certain things. Also, deception can also be useful, and what better way to study supers up close than to play the part of the scared, helpless, and recently escaped vice president. I picked out you two, Phoenicia and Chameleon, because it's been proven that new child supers can be very gullible, and thank you for proving me right."

"I dare you to say that to my face and see what happens," Chameleon told him, clearly very angry by his words.

"I thought I just did," he said.

"But why?" I asked him. "Why are you doing all this in the first place? What's the real reason?"

"You know, I was warned against doing that, also," he replied. "Going into a novel length monologue because that's when supers escape and wreck other people's plans. So what makes you think I'm going to do that?"

"Oh, come on," Ultraviolet said. "You have us trapped behind this force field, you took away all our stuff, and you have a dozen guards pointing weapons at us. I hardly think we're in a position to make a miraculous escape."

"Oh, I don't know," he told her. "I've heard you were able to make a few _miraculous escapes _before."

"So I take it you're not going to tell us," Changeling said.

Devon was very quiet for a while and I really was starting to think that he wasn't going to tell us his reasons. However, he then surprised me by saying, "Alright, I'll tell you, even though it's going against my judgment. I do owe it to you, and even if you were able to get out of there, you'd still be too late to stop it anyway."

He looked at each of us in turn, then spoke again. "Let's take a trip back into time, say, twenty years ago. Do you remember what happened during the entire month of May and half into June, 1975?"

"Yeah, that was when Syndrome first appeared," Ultraviolet said. "But what does that have to do with this?"

"Everything," he replied. "You see, to truly understand, you must know more about me. For instance, my name really isn't Devon Woods. I was born Randall Allen Pine. I'm sure you understand what that means, Ultraviolet."

I certainly didn't understand, and neither did Chameleon, Changeling, or my mother by the looks on their faces. What did telling us his real name have to do with all this? If anything, it kind of sounded like the name of a serial killer, which made sense in a weird sense of way. Apparently, Ultraviolet knew what it meant.

"Wait a minute," she said. "Pine? As in Buddy Pine? As in Syndrome?"

"Wait a sec, _that _was his real name?" Chameleon said. "Man, no wonder he went by Syndrome."

"Very good, you guessed correctly," Devon, or Randall now, told her. "But please, call me Randy. Everyone else does, or at least they used to."

"I thought he was dead," Changeling said.

"He is, although he didn't die from the explosion, although he wished he had. What was left of him survived for a while longer, no thanks to your Jackall. Anyway, Buddy Pine was my cousin."

"Cousin?" My mother said. "I see, then. So I take it this is basically your standard tale of revenge for the death of a family member."

"Not exactly," he replied. "You see, he was extremely intelligent, but not very patient. I warned him that rushing into things would be his downfall. Now as for myself, I'm not quite as intelligent as he was, but I have far more patience, not to mention my own skills." He then spread his arms wide and looked up at the ceiling. "And this is my greatest achievement right here."

"What, taking over this place is your greatest achievement?" Chameleon said, rolling his eyes. "Sorry, I'm not all that impressed."

Randy chuckled. "I think you're not quite getting what I'm telling you," he said.

I didn't get it either at first. Greatest achievement? What was he talking about? Then, suddenly, it hit me as hard as a sledgehammer to my already injured head. My hand flew to my mouth as I gasped loudly, my eyes widened, and I actually felt physically ill as I nearly fell to my knees. No…he couldn't mean…

"Oh, my God," Mom whispered, obviously getting it as well. "That can't be."

"Wait, are you saying that you're the one that created Advanced Technologies, Incorporated?" Changeling asked.

"Partially," he explained. "As I said, I had my own skills, and I knew a lot of things. For one, you could be as smart as my cousin was and could create a lot of high-tech things, but still not be able to accomplish much. However, as in my case, you might not be as smart, but you can still form an incredibly ambitious idea, such as creating a huge corporation from the ground up and employing thousands of unsuspecting people, many of them the best in their fields, to do all the work for you."

I looked back at Ultraviolet at that moment. She was staring at the floor, her face absolutely pale. I didn't blame her at all. She was the Director of Operations of Commercial Systems for a company that, from what Randy was saying, she and her family basically created by accident. Not only that, for twelve years, she was working on the same projects that would be used to destroy Metroville. I really wouldn't know how I would feel if I was in her position. I reached over and took her hand in mine. She seemed to acknowledge it, but still kept looking at the floor.

"Of course, you have to start from somewhere," Randy went on. "So on October 25, 1975, my good old buddy John Harriman and I formed what would become ATI in the garage of my home. It really wasn't very much, literally a typewriter, a computer, a desk and two chairs. That was all we needed, and it didn't take long for us to grow it out of my garage and into a nearby abandoned building, then to a downtown office building, to a multitude of huge buildings around this entire region and for our employment to grow from just two to over fifteen thousand today. Quite an impressive feat, if I might say so, and all thanks to you and your family, Ultraviolet. A shame, too. All of you could have been members of the board or at least major shareholders.

"So you're probably wondering if I was the brains behind ATI, why didn't I become its CEO? Simple, it's what you call hiding in plain sight. It was my decision to become the vice president and for John to be the overall face of ATI. Unfortunately, at the very last minute, he was becoming more scared to the point of wanting out, and in the end I had to _terminate _our friendship. I guess I learned a lesson right there, always pick the friends that are willing to stay with the cause to the end."

"So let me get this straight just so we're clear," Chameleon said. "You're telling us that you created ATI twenty years ago as a way to get revenge on the Incredibles for them killing Syndrome?"

"Partially, yes," he replied. "I'm also completing what he wasn't able to do due to Jackall's intervention."

"And what's that?" Mom asked.

"You should know that he did what he did because he felt betrayed by Mr. Incredible. He kept telling me over and over what Mr. Incredible told him in that building that night. 'Fly home, Buddy. I work alone'. Practically all day and all night, 'Fly home, Buddy. I work alone.' You know what that kind of rejection does to a person? That's the problem with you supers, you say things without thinking of the consequences. Some people might simply switch to another super. For Buddy, he wanted to make all supers pay, everywhere, starting with Mr. Incredible. At first, he just wanted to kill him outright, but then he changed it to the plan of getting rid of all the other supers and becoming one himself.

"However, he also had a second, backup plan. He was a very firm believer of scorched earth. In other words, if the people of Metroville didn't love him, then he would make them pay by destroying Metroville. He had a second missile on Nomanisan that had a ZPE warhead inside that was ready for launch the moment he sent the signal."

"ZPE?" Changeling asked. "You mean zero point energy? That's only hypothetical, isn't it?"

"He was able to crack the secret of creating it," he told him. "All his technology ran on ZPE. The warhead in that missile was powerful enough to completely vaporize anything within a thirty-mile radius if detonated. He came very close to launching it immediately after he failed, but he decided to do one last thing. Take the Incredibles' baby to train as his sidekick, and then launch the missile once he was in the safety of his plane. Of course, you know what happened after that.

"Unfortunately, he didn't leave any notes behind on how he was able to create ZPE, so we weren't able to create it ourselves. Instead, we focused on something else, a new technology that was starting to emerge in the early eighties, nanotechnology. Project Nanobyte was born. Ten years and many billions of dollars have come to this moment. Sure, tiny machines might not cause the instant destruction of a ZPE warhead, but they would cause the same amount of destruction over time, not to mention having it's own psychological effect."

"So basically you're fulfilling his debt," Chameleon said. "But then why did you help us destroy two of your missiles?"

"Simple, those aren't the missiles you were looking for. What, did you really think I'd leave weapons as important as those out in the open only for them to be destroyed? No, the real single missile is in a special silo here at the facility, heavily reinforced and guarded. You'd be lucky to even get near it, let alone destroy it, and even if you were to somehow escape from here, you'd still be far too late to stop it anyway. But don't worry, I've arranged for you to see the whole thing live."

He pulled out some kind of remote from his pocket and hit a switch. A huge screen activated on one of the walls, showing the inside of a silo and the huge missile filling it, and the sizable amount of guards and machines around it. A clock superimposed on the screen read five minutes and thirty-seven seconds, and was counting down much too fast.

"You should be honored," Randy told us. "You're probably the only supers to see the destruction of Metroville firsthand, and on such a big screen, no less."

"Yeah, we're really honored," Chameleon said sarcastically. "Throw in some popcorn, soft drinks, and a few La-Z-Boy chairs and we'll be all set."

"So if all this was to get back at Metroville," Changeling asked, "then what was the purpose of those two men at the Westville mall?"

"Ah, yes, those two," Randy replied. "That's one of those great things about having a mercenary force, a few of them can be expendable. Basically, I needed to know how our new combat suits would fare against super attacks, and those two just happened to be the test subjects. Of course, they weren't meant to survive, so I had to eliminate them in jail so they wouldn't talk. You know how people are when offered deals and bargains. Speaking of talks, I told you what you wanted to know, so I say we're done here. Enjoy the show while it lasts, because when it's done, then I'm going to decide what to do with the five of you. Have fun."

"You are one sick, insane person," my mother told him.

"Maybe," he said as he started to leave, but then stopped. "By the way, I wouldn't bother getting any ideas for escape if I were you." He then left the room but a couple of the guards stayed behind at the door to watch over us.

I turned back to Ultraviolet, who was still staring at the floor almost mindlessly. I was seriously starting to wonder if the news hit her far harder than the rest of us. "Hey, are you okay?" I asked her. She didn't reply at first, but then she looked at me for a second before looking back at the floor.

"Twelve years," she whispered. "Twelve damn years. God, was I really that stupid, that blind to everything happening around me?"

"Hey, there was no way you could've known the truth," my mother said.

"Wasn't there?" Ultraviolet whirled around and said to her almost angrily. "What makes you so totally sure of that? You're not the one who worked twelve years for a corporation that shouldn't even be existing. I prided myself of being the smart one in my family and being able to figure out things in an instant, but all that time I was working on and testing things that I never had the slightest idea what they were really going to be used for, never picking up even the tiny clues to what was happening behind the curtains. I'm supposed to be a world-class super and things like that are second nature, but yet I still flunked miserably. So excuse me if I'm feeling a little bit skeptical of what you just said."

Mom then grabbed Ultraviolet's shoulders and looked into her eyes. "Listen to me very carefully," she told her. "You're absolutely right. I wouldn't know and probably would be just as upset as you, but remember, you're not the only one he played for a fool. My husband's been working at ATI for ten years. How do you think he's going to feel once he learns the truth, if he hasn't already? How do you think all those fifteen thousand people are going to feel? Obviously you can't go back and change things twelve or even twenty years ago, but maybe we'll still have a chance to deal with what's going on now. We might be the only supers that can. Yes, we might not be able to catch everything as quickly as we'd like, and yes, that might get us down for a while, but the most important thing is to put that behind us and move on. Right now, we need your expertise on everything here. You know I've never asked for your help before, and, well, there were times that I didn't want your help, so I guess I'm asking for both of them now."

Ultraviolet just stared at her for the longest time, although it only had to be for just a few seconds, before she gave my mother a slight smile and said, "Alright, who are you and what did you do with the Electricia I used to know?" After they both had a slight chuckle, she sighed and continued. "Yeah, you're right, I suppose. It still makes you question your abilities if you've been completely fooled for twelve years, though. But I guess I have no other choice. Looks like we'll be partnering up one more time." She then laughed a little. "Looks like I won the bet."

"What bet?" my mother asked.

"Dash bet me a while back that you and I would never team up together again, especially after what happened the last time. He bet me a hundred bucks, but that was nine years ago, so I don't know what that would be now. Anyway, even with all my expertise, it's still useless as long as we're stuck in here."

"There's no way out of here, then?" Changeling asked her.

"Not unless someone shuts down the field," she told him. "Even if that was done now, he was right. There's no way we'd reach the missile in time, especially in," she looked up at the screen, "less than four minutes, and that's factoring in a clear path there, which we can easily see that it's not."

"Do you even know where that area is at?" Mom asked her, looking at the screen as well. "Maybe it's a lot closer than you think."

"I have a pretty good idea," she replied. "I still say we couldn't reach it in time."

"So that's it, then?" Chameleon said in a very disappointed voice. "We have no choice but to just stand here and watch Metroville get destroyed?"

I was feeling almost the exact same way that he was, only I didn't express it like he did. I never felt so helpless in my life, nor was the weight of responsibly so crushing on my shoulders. I was really starting to think that after everything that we did, we still failed and were going to let millions of people down. It wasn't supposed to be like this. No matter how huge the odds were, supers seemed to always come through at the end, sometimes at the last possible moment. However, it didn't look like that would be the case this time. Randy seemed to have thought of everything. Maybe this was something that was bound to happen. There were people out there that were saying that even though the city had been saved countless times in the past, the odds of its eventual destruction were going to catch up sooner or later. Still, I was certain that all five of us wanted one last chance, and if a miracle didn't happen in the next three minutes, Metroville was doomed.

"I wasn't suggesting that," Ultraviolet told him. "Still, we…"

"Wait, do you hear that?" Changeling interrupted.

I listened for any kind of strange noise. All I could hear was the slight hum of the green force field. What could he be hearing?

"I don't hear anything," Chameleon said. "What are you talking about?"

"What are you hearing and where do you think it's coming from?" Mom asked.

"I don't know what it is exactly," Changeling replied. "It sounds like it's coming from the ceiling."

The ceiling? We all looked up at the ceiling of the room, at least the parts that we could see. The field was slightly distorting the view, but there didn't seem to be anything unusual about it, all that we could see, anyway.

But before any of us could ask any more questions, Chameleon pointed and said, "Look at that."

We looked in the direction that he was pointing. The two guards that were left behind to watch over us were starting to sway and stagger on their feet, almost like they were drunk. They seemed to know that something was happening to them, but before they could warn anyone else, they fell down to the ground almost right at the same time and weren't moving at all.

"What the hell?" Ultraviolet said.

My question exactly. What had just happened to those two guards? Were they even alive? Again, before any of us could ask a question, a vent cover opened up in the ceiling and a rope dropped down from it to the floor. A few moments later a person slid down the rope followed immediately by another. They were wearing white lab coats, black gloves, belts, and dark gas masks. I actually had to raise my eyebrows at this unexpected event. Okay, who were these guys? It was almost certain that they were good guys, or at least I thought that they were but could be wrong, but if they were supposed to be some kind of commandos or something, they had the weirdest combat outfits that I've ever seen.

"Who are you guys?" Chameleon asked them.

"We're a couple of the people you freed," one of them told us, his voice muffled by the mask. "There's a lot more of us around regaining control of the facility bit by bit. We got most of it back, but there are still areas out of our control. We also managed to get a signal out to the police and they're on their way, but they won't get here until it's far too late. Anyway, it looks like it's our turn to rescue you. We'd get you out right now, but we have to wait for the gas to clear so you won't be affected. It should only take a few more seconds."

"Gas? What gas?" Changeling asked.

"It's only knockout gas," the other said. "They'll be out for several hours." The two men then removed their masks. One of them was a young blond man, and the other was an older dark-haired guy. The both of them moved over to the control panel. "It's clear, now. Hang on, we'll get you out off there."

The two men looked over the panel for a few seconds before they started pushing a few buttons. The field didn't shut down. They pushed a few more buttons and were talking to each other, but I couldn't hear what they were saying. Still, it was becoming obvious that their rescue attempt was suffering a little setback.

"Is there a problem?" Mom asked.

"It's encrypted," the dark-haired man said. "I got another idea, though. Let's see if this works."

He pressed a couple more buttons. Nothing happened at first. Then suddenly, the whole room plunged into total darkness as the lights and field shut down.

"Now hurry! Get out of there!"

It probably would've been a lot easier if I could see where I was going, or at least had time to make my hands glow, but since it sounded like we didn't have much time, I just picked a direction and dashed out, hoping that I didn't run into anything or anyone. Moments later, the lights and the field came back on, this time with all five of us outside of it. We were free.

"What did you do?" Changeling asked.

"I created a power overload for this area," he explained. "The system is designed to automatically shut down a certain grid to protect the transformers, pretty much temporarily taking out anything connected to it."

"Thanks," Ultraviolet told them both. "Anyway, did you see where he went?"

"Where who went?" the blond asked with a confused expression.

"Never mind. We're pressed for time, so I'll just say find a place to hole up in until the police come and don't take don't take unnecessary risks if you can help it, okay?"

"Sure. Nice seeing you in action again, Ultraviolet, and love the new suit. Go get him, whoever he is."

She just nodded with a slight smile and then started moving toward the door that Randy went out of a few minutes earlier with the four of us right behind her. She pulled open the door and we went through it and into a short concrete hall. Our footsteps echoed loudly as we ran toward the door that was at the very end of the hall. According to the timer at the moment we left, we had almost two minutes left before launch, not nearly enough time to do anything even if we knew exactly where we were going. I wasn't even sure where we were, let alone where we had to go.

"Can we do what that guy did and shut this whole place down?" Chameleon asked.

"No, it wouldn't work," Ultraviolet replied. "There are too many protections and redundancies in the system to allow that. That guy was extremely lucky to shut down even that small portion of the grid to begin with."

"Maybe I could create a surge through the system and shut it down that way," Mom suggested.

"That won't work, either. You might be able to blow out the main grid, but there are numerous backups that would kick in immediately, and, no offense, but you're probably a lot more powerful than the system could ever hope to handle. Who knows where all that extra power would end up going. It could go into an area with a lot of explosive material. Sorry, we're going to have to do this the very hard way."

"How could we even do that if we don't know where he went?" Changeling asked.

Before she could answer, the door opened about right about the moment that we got to it. It was another guard coming in. He obviously wasn't expecting us because he seemed very surprised to see us there. Before he could do anything else, Ultraviolet grabbed him and pressed him against the wall with her left forearm against his neck.

"Okay, talk now," she growled through gritted teeth. "Where did he go? You know who I'm talking about, so don't try to lie."

"I…I don't know what you're talking about," he stammered.

"No?" Mom said, walking up to him. "Let's see if I could help you out with your little memory problem. If you don't tell us where he went, you're going to know what it's like to have a couple hundred thousand volts of electricity going through your body. Believe me, a human body doesn't look good after that. I suggest you don't try me. I'm not in a very good mood." As if to further illustrate her point, crackling bands of electricity began to run up and down her arms and hands.

"Okay! Okay!" he said in a very scared voice. "Don't hurt me. He went to the special room built under the administration building. That's where he controls the missile."

"How do we get there?" Ultraviolet asked.

"I heard there's some secret elevator or something in the CEO's office. I don't know how it works, I just know it's there. That's all I know, I swear."

Ultraviolet nodded to my mother and let him go. However, Mom then put her hand on his shoulder right next to his neck. "Sorry, can't have you warning anyone else," she told him, and a surge of energy left her hand and went into the man. He stiffened like a board for a second before slumping down to the floor.

"A couple hundred thousand volts of power?" Chameleon asked in amazement.

"Don't worry, it's about as much as a stun gun puts out," Mom told him. "High volts, low amps. It leaves no permanent damage as long as you don't do it too long. The trick is to say that in a way that makes people think instant death or even incineration." She then knelt down next to me and said, "I don't know how dangerous this is going to get, so I want you and your two friends to find a safe place to hide until this is over."

I couldn't believe what she was saying. "But Mom…" I started to say.

"No buts," she said in a stern voice. "I'm still not happy you're here. You've been extremely lucky so far, but we don't know what's going to happen next. I don't want anything to happen to you, so please do as I say, okay?"

"But Mom," I tried again. "I know I screwed up, but like you just said, we don't know what'll happen. What if something happens to you two, what then? Doesn't five of us have a better chance than two? You might need us. Besides, I think we need to see this through to the end. Please let us come with you."

Mom looked like she was about to say no again, but she surprised me when her face softened and then she hugged me tightly. "Oh, honey, you're growing up so fast," she whispered and then sighed. "Alright, you can come, but do exactly as I tell you and absolutely no risks."

"Thank you," I said.

"Okay, we got to go, now," Ultraviolet told us. "We're down to about a minute."

My mother stood back up as Ultraviolet opened the door and we went through it. We were back outside, and almost by sheer luck we happened to be in a building that was almost right next to the administration building. There didn't seem to be anyone guarding the entrances this time. It was almost strange having to come back full circle. I can't say that I was overly thrilled to have to go back inside that building again, especially after what happened the last time. Still, even though it didn't look like it was guarded on the outside, I still had a very bad feeling.

"What happened to the guards?" Changeling asked.

"I don't know," Ultraviolet relied. "We'll worry about them later if we have to."

"You know, it would be a lot easier if we had a way to grapple onto those top story windows and bust through them," Chameleon said. "It'd save us a lot of time."

"I could fly up and blast one out," I suggested. "Maybe find a rope or ladder inside for the rest of you to climb up."

"Absolutely not," my mother objected.

"No, wait," Ultraviolet told her. "That could work."

"Excuse me?" Mom seemed shocked by that.

"I have an idea. I'll explain on the way." With that, she took off running toward the building.

"Wait a minute! But…" My mother actually let out an irritated groan and followed her with the three of us close behind.

Whatever Ultraviolet's plan was, we didn't get a chance to hear it. Just mere moments after we started moving, the bad feeling that I was having came true. The five of us stopped in our tracks as we heard a loud roar overhead. Before we could look up to see what it was, something very huge landed right in front of us, actually shaking the ground underneath our feet. It took a moment for me to get a clear idea of what I was looking at. It was another machine, but this one was absolutely huge, at least ten feet tall. It also was extremely bulky, with a massive main body and equally massive arms, legs, and head. Its eyes were staring at us with an almost frightening blue glow. It was terrifying to say the least, and it was something that I've seen before. It was back at Ultraviolet's hideout in the hills, and was something that I thought she said we didn't have to worry about. It took a moment for me to remember its name.

The Devastator.


	26. The Final Countdown

Author's note: Hope everyone had a nice Christmas and wish you a happy 2008. Thank you.

**Chapter 26**

"Oh. My. God." Chameleon said slowly and quietly.

I think that those words were very much mutual among the five of us, although my own reaction was probably a little more than just those three words. I thought that this machine looked bad enough just seeing it on a small computer screen, but seeing it up close and personal in all its frightening glory was about a million times worse, if that. Even the highly polished metal surface of the robot was almost terrifying just by itself. Those eerie, soulless, glowing blue eyes looked over each one of us in turn, probably studying us, analyzing us as possible threats. I swore that I felt my blood freeze solid when those eyes gazed at me.

'_Now I know what the Incredibles must've felt against those Omnidroids,' _I thought.

If it was another time and place and I wasn't in so much danger, I probably would've laughed at that. I always thought that those Omnidroids were stupid looking things, pretty much nothing more that a giant ball with four legs. I mean, who could really be afraid of something like that? Well, one who was very stupid and ignorant, of course, as everyone else would know better. The news archive of an Omnidroid rampaging through Metroville was proof of how deadly those stupid looking, four-legged giant balls really were. Still, I'd much rather that we were facing off against one of those instead of the Devastator. At least we knew its weakness, okay, one of us did anyway. The machine that was standing in front of us looked as invincible as they come, not to mention a lot more deadly.

"Um, I…I thought you said we didn't have to worry about that," I whispered to Ultraviolet.

"We shouldn't be," she said softly, the total shock evident in her voice. "I mean, it's impossible. That robot shouldn't be operational for almost a full year. There was still so much work to be done on it. Some of its main systems haven't even left the design stage. There's literally no way he could've gotten it working this fast."

"Tell that to him," Chameleon said, pointing to the machine.

"What is that thing?" Mom asked.

"It's called the Devastator," Ultraviolet replied. "It's a prototype cybernetic soldier for the military."

"An apt name," my mother said.

Just then, the Devastator took a step towards us, the ground vibrating under its enormous metal foot. All five of us instinctively moved back. It looked over all of us again and then said in a very deep, echoing electronic voice, "You have entered an unauthorized area. State your intentions. You have thirty seconds to comply or you will be neutralized."

"Neutralized?" Changeling asked.

"I think it means it's about to let loose on us with a whole world of hurt," Chameleon said.

"I know what it means," his younger brother told him. "I'm just wondering what it has in mind."

"I really don't think we want to know the answer to that."

Mom grabbed my arm and pulled me around behind her. "Keep behind me," she told me in a calm voice but I could definitely sense her nervousness.

"Twenty seconds," the robot counted down.

"Um, does anyone have any ideas?" Chameleon asked. "Does that thing have any weaknesses at all?"

"None that I know of," Ultraviolet replied. "It was specifically designed not to have any kind of weakness. It has multiple redundant systems to prevent that sort of thing. And even if it didn't, it would take a serious amount of firepower just to get through its armor. And if all that wasn't bad enough, I'm not sure if this is the same Devastator as in the original blueprints. If Randy was able to get it working this fast, then there's no telling what else he did to it."

"So in other words, it's invincible," Changeling said.

"I didn't say that," she told him. "Nothing's invincible. It's more like being extremely difficult to bring down. It can be done if we work together."

"Ten seconds," the Devastator said.

"Get closer to me," Ultraviolet told us. "I can protect us with a field but not for very long. That thing's very powerful, probably powerful enough to shatter my field eventually."

"But what good would that do if we don't know how to beat it?" Mom asked her.

"I do have somewhat of an idea," she replied. "If it still has the same targeting system as in the blueprint, it can track all five of us but it can't fire on more than two targets at a time. That gives us a little bit of an advantage."

"Yeah, but what?" Chameleon asked.

Before she could answer, the robot finished its countdown. "You have not exited the restricted area in the allotted time. The use of deadly force has now been authorized."

Both of its hands began to open up, fold in on some parts and extend out in others. They were quickly transforming into what looked like very large three-barreled cannons. Laser sights flashed on from both guns, one pointed at Ultraviolet and the other at my mother. Ultraviolet quickly put up a semi-spherical force field in front of us just as the Devastator opened fire with a deafening roar. The rapid shots were being absorbed and deflected by the field, but many of the shots were hitting solidly against it. It looked like they were hurting her by the amount of wincing she was doing.

"Can you hold?" my mother asked her, almost shouting above the noise.

"Not for long," she said in a strained voice. She nodded her head toward a pair of nearby buildings and said, "I'm going to move towards those buildings. I want the rest of you to make a run for it once we're there. Use the buildings as protection."

"Wait a minute, you can't fight that thing by yourself," Mom said. "I'm staying alongside you."

Ultraviolet looked like she was about to argue but quickly changed her mind and nodded. She then began to move back to those buildings while still somehow keeping her field up against the relentless barrage. The other four of us moved with her and kept behind the protection of the field. It took about thirty seconds for us to reach the buildings.

"Now go," she told the two boys and myself. "Keep among the buildings and stay out of sight."

I really didn't want to leave my mother's side, but I also knew that both her and Ultraviolet had the best chance of beating that robot. I gave her hand a quick squeeze for luck before having to tear myself away and the three of us took off alongside and then to the back of one of the buildings. However, that was where Chameleon stopped and he went back to the edge of the building to peek around it. Changeling and I immediately joined him.

Ultraviolet's field was still up despite the fast and hard fire hitting against it from the Devastator, but she was looking to be in bad shape as the shots were definitely affecting her. The machine seemed to realize that as it stopped and then fired something else at her. Two big explosions impacted on her field, launching her into one of the buildings and bringing down her field. She was lying almost motionless on the ground and was now a very easy target for the robot. But before it could fire, two bright pink, white, and blue balls of energy slammed into its head. They were ball lightning attacks from my mother. They seemed to have an affect on the machine as it looked temporarily stunned. Mom then went over, helped Ultraviolet to her feet, and then both of them hurried away past one of the buildings and out of our sight. The Devastator quickly recovered and fired again at them. It followed them and went out of our view as well, but we could still hear it shooting. We moved back behind the building and then crouched down.

"I don't think they'll be able to handle that robot alone," Chameleon said. "They might need our help."

Normally, I might've objected to such a suicidal idea, but with my mother's life at stake, I had to agree with him. We had to do something, but what? If Ultraviolet and my mother were having trouble dealing with the Devastator, then what exactly could the three of us do?

Changeling asked that very question. "Maybe, but what could we do?"

"Well, we would have the element of surprise on our side," his older brother said. "Sometimes that's all it takes to turn the tide of a battle."

"Maybe, but that's probably only if you know how to beat your opponent."

"Remember, she said it's not invincible, just hard to take down. That's a big difference."

"Not quite that big from the look of things."

I took that moment to voice an idea that had been forming inside my head. "Maybe if I could get close or even on it, I could burn a hole in it. It's what I did to that Specter down in Sandersville."

"That's what you did?" Changeling said with amazement in his voice. "You can do that?"

"I guess I can," I replied somewhat sheepishly. "I was kind of improvising when I did that."

"But what guarantee is there that you can even get close to that thing without being blown to bits?" Chameleon asked me.

"There isn't one," I told him truthfully. "But we have to try something."

"That's as good a plan as I can come up with," Changeling said.

Chameleon was quiet but I could easily tell that he was thinking it over. At about the same time I heard two more explosions and electric blasts very close by. It sounded like the Devastator was still giving Ultraviolet and Mom the fight of their lives. We had to hurry if we wanted to help them out.

"It could work," he finally said, "but we need a way to make it work perfectly. We may need to create a diversion for you to get close to it. Of course, that's assuming it doesn't suddenly spin around on you and start shooting, or if you can even melt through its armor in a short amount of time."

"Well, God, way to make an idea sound like suicide," I muttered.

"Hey, I didn't mean for it to sound that bad," he told me. "I've always heard that it's a great idea to consider all the risks for something very dangerous, that's all."

"It's kinda obvious that it's very dangerous," I said. "I still think we should do it, though."

At that moment, I realized how almost astonishing it was about how brave I'd gotten over the last couple hours. I was thinking and even doing things that seemed inconceivable only just a short time ago. Don't get me wrong, I was still plenty scared, but I also had a strange, almost calm feeling as well. It really felt like we could beat that machine, but I wasn't stupid enough to totally rely on that, of course. It was so amazing how much I'd changed in just those few short hours. More weapon fire and explosions brought me out of my thoughts.

"Okay, let's do it," Chameleon said. "We'll try to cover you as best as we can. Be careful."

"Same to both of you," I said.

Chameleon then thrust his right black-gloved fist out toward the center of our group. I placed my own right orange-gloved hand on top of his and then Changeling placed his gray-gloved hand over mine. So there it was, three novice supers were going to help two famous veteran ones.

"T3 to the rescue," Changeling said out the blue.

Chameleon and I both looked at him quizzically. "T3?" we both asked.

"Yeah, the Terrific Teen Team," he told us. "I figured we needed some sort of name. Pretty cool, huh?"

"No, just huh," his older brother said. "We don't need a name. I thought we agreed on that. Besides, it's the stupidest name I've ever heard."

"I don't remember agreeing on anything like that. I just assumed that since we're working as a team, we needed a name, you know, for when we go official." He then turned to me and asked, "What do you think of it?"

"Um, well, it's…it's…interesting," I said.

"See, it's interesting," he said to his brother.

"Look, we don't have time for this," Chameleon said in irritation. "If we're going, then let's go."

The three of us stood back up and then moved once again toward the edge of the building. Right when we reached the edge, a loud earth-shaking explosion made us all put our backs to the wall. What had that been? Almost immediately after, I heard two voices, both of them belonging to Ultraviolet and Mom. They sounded like they were okay judging by the sound of their voices, but I was seriously wondering how long could they keep that up and if they were able to do any damage to the robot. It probably wasn't much due to the fact that I could still hear it moving around and occasionally firing its weapons.

Chameleon cautiously peeked around the corner for a few seconds before motioning us with his hand and the three of us ran across the gap and to the back of the next building. He then led us around to the other side of the building and to the front edge. Once we were there, he again looked around the corner.

"Hey, take a look at this," he told us.

His brother and I both peeked around him and the corner to see the object that he was referring to. It was an electric cart about a few feet away from us. I recognized it as one of those carts that moved employees around complexes as big as this one. I was confused. It was just a normal looking cart. What was so different about it?

"It's just a cart," Changeling said.

"Yeah," Chameleon said. "I was thinking we could use it to help us out."

"In what way?" I asked him.

"Well, think about it," he replied. "We'd get around a lot faster on this than just by running, and remember, a fast moving target is also a harder to hit target."

"Unless it has some kind of super targeting system," his brother countered. "Then we'd be royally screwed."

"Maybe we could get Ultraviolet and my mother to help out," I suggested. "Ultraviolet could use her force fields to protect the cart and my mom could use it to her advantage."

"Hey, that's a great idea," Changeling said. "See, I said we'd make a great team, unlike what someone among us was saying."

"I've never said we weren't a team," Chameleon argued. "I only said we didn't have time or need for crazy names."

"Well, you sure made it sound that way," his brother shot back.

"Whatever," he said with a deep sigh. He then went over to the cart and inspected it. "Hey, sweet, they left the keys in. That means I won't have to hotwire it now."

"Wait a minute, you can hotwire vehicles?" I asked him.

"No, not really," he replied with an almost playful grin. "Probably nothing to it, if I was stupid enough to try." He then climbed into the driver seat and turned the key. There was a light beeping noise and a green light on the front console that indicted the cart was on. "Alright, climb aboard, everybody."

I got into the front passenger seat while Changeling climbed into the back seat. We had just barely settled into our seats before Chameleon jammed on the accelerator pedal, making the electric motor rev loudly and actually causing the rear tires to screech on the surface before the whole cart launched forward at a speed that I would've thought impossible for it to go. There were no seatbelts, unfortunately, so I had to resort to gripping the seat as tightly as I could as Chameleon sped around a couple of the buildings and towards the area where we last saw the Devastator. He took one corner so fast that one side of the cart actually lifted off the ground before coming back down with a jarring crash.

"You think you can slow it down some?" I asked him.

"No," he told me. "Every second's counting right now."

"You know, this has _got _to be the stupidest supermobile in the entire history of supers," Changeling said.

"Will you shut up about that?" Chameleon said over his shoulder. "Alright, do you guys hear that robot anywhere?"

I listened for the machine as hard as I could, but I couldn't hear it anywhere. Then again, the whirring of the motor was probably hiding any other noises. "I can't hear it," I told him.

"Same here," Changeling said. He then reached between us and pointed to the left. "Go that way."

"Okay, okay," his brother said. He turned the cart to the left and into a narrow area…where a dark figure was already standing.

"Look out!" I screamed.

Chameleon immediately jerked the wheel to the right, missing the figure but sending the cart careening into a pile of supplies with a loud crash. The cart stopped suddenly and we all were jerked forward but luckily we didn't go flying out of the vehicle. Well, I guess we found out that these carts didn't have airbags as standard equipment. The figure came running over to us and I quickly saw that it was Ultraviolet.

"Are you alright?" she asked us.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Chameleon told her. He then asked Changeling and me, "How about you guys?" We both nodded.

She nodded then asked us in a very stern voice, "What the hell do you think you were doing anyway? I thought I told you to stay out of sight."

"We're here to help you," Chameleon told her. He then went on before she could say something, "Yeah, I know what you're going to say, but I don't think you can stop us anyway. You might as well just accept it. Besides, aren't five supers better than two?"

I was almost astonished that he spoke to her like that, even though I was in total agreement with him. I probably wouldn't have been quite as blunt if I had to say that myself. She opened her mouth to speak, but was once again stopped as we heard a loud noise. It was the same roaring sound that we heard when the Devastator first made its appearance.

"Shit," she cursed. She then jumped into the cart right next to Changeling and told Chameleon, "Get us out of here."

He was able to back the cart out of the mess and get it moving again right at the moment the robot landed right behind us and moved at a speed that was almost unbelievable for such a huge, bulky machine. Ultraviolet projected a field behind the cart as the robot began firing. The shots didn't seem to be hitting her field nearly as hard as before, probably because she was moving a lot faster this time. Chameleon helped her out a little more by zigzagging the cart some before swerving behind a couple of buildings, losing the robot, at least for a short time..

"Thanks," she said. "Still, I don't know what to do with you people. You don't seem to listen very well when someone tells you a situation is dangerous and you need to hide." She then smiled a little and chuckled to herself. "Then again, what young super actually does? I guess I'm guilty of that one also. But that still doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. Believe me, it took a couple of near disasters and then a really big, tragic one to hammer that point home." She had a sad, faraway look in her eyes when she said that last sentence which made me wonder what sort of tragedy that was. "Anyway," she continued, "you're right and I really can't stop you, but you need to do everything both of us tell you if you want to survive."

"Hey, where is my mother, by the way?" I asked her. "Is she alright?"

"She's fine," she replied. "We split up to try and confuse it. She should still be around this area somewhere."

In fact, just moments after she said that, we almost literally ran into my mother as she jogged out from behind a pair of buildings. She rolled out of the way as Chameleon once again had to take evasive action and made the cart skid around in a one-eighty. She stood back up from the ground and looked at us in surprise while at the same time reaching back and rubbing her injury.

"You okay?" Ultraviolet asked before I could ask Mom that same question.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied. "I just rolled wrong on my injury, that's all." She then looked at the three of us, or more likely just me in particular, and said, "What are you doing? You're supposed to be hiding in someplace safe. It's far too dangerous for you to be out here."

Before any of us could answer her, the Devastator once again reappeared as weapons fire impacted the ground around her feet. She immediately reacted by making a running jump into the backseat and Chameleon quickly accelerated out of there. The cart wasn't moving as fast as before with the weight of two extra people, but it still had a reasonable enough speed to hopefully keep the machine off guard. I had to admit, Chameleon was handling the cart very well, almost like he was a stunt driver. We probably would've gotten hit a couple of times if it wasn't for some of his moves.

The massive and deadly robot once again came after us. Mom climbed up into the seat and with Ultraviolet began to work together. Ultraviolet put up her field while Mom shot out a few bolts of electricity and a couple shots of ball lightning from around its edge. The impacts didn't even slow the machine down, but I did notice that its bright blue eyes had flickered and dulled for a moment. Unfortunately, I didn't have any time to think on that as one of the machine's weapons blasted a large crater right in front of us. Chameleon couldn't avoid it and we hit it at high speed, sending the cart over on its side and the five of us careening out of it. We were quickly back on our feet and Ultraviolet led us over to and into a nearby building before the robot could fire at us again. The building was a dark and totally empty warehouse. I could hear the Devastator moving around outside but it seemed to be going away from the building.

"Is everyone okay?" Mom asked and we all nodded.

"Alright," Ultraviolet said in a very business-like tone. "We can't keep messing around with that robot like this or we're going to lose, so here's what we're going to do. Leon, take Jess and your brother, go into the administration building, and search that office for the elevator. Tear it completely apart if you have to. But if it's too dangerous or something doesn't look right, I want you out of there immediately. _Do not_ take any unnecessary risks, and I seriously mean it this time. We'll take care of the robot. Is everybody clear on that?"

"Wait a minute, you can't risk their lives like this!" my mother argued. "There's no guarantee the inside of that place is any safer than out here. How do you know they won't get hurt or killed the moment they step foot in there?"

"I don't," she admitted. "Look, we don't have any time to debate this. The longer we argue, the greater the chance of the city getting destroyed. Like it or not, our best chance is to split up to take care of these two problems. I have faith in them and you should, too."

Mom opened her mouth to say something but then closed it. She then closed her eyes, sighed deeply, and slowly nodded her head. After a few seconds, she opened her eyes, looked at me, and said in that strict, no-nonsense tone of voice that only mothers knew how to do, "You will be careful inside that place. Don't take any kind of dangerous chances whatsoever, do you understand?"

"I'll be careful," I told her. "I promise."

She took my hand in hers and then clasped her other hand over them both. "Good luck and stay safe," she said softly.

"Okay, everyone follow me," Ultraviolet told us.

She led all of us across the floor of the bare and dimly lit floor to a door on the other side. Once we got there, she held up her right hand and then gently pressed her ear against the door. She listened for about ten seconds before she pulled back and slowly opened the door. I could see the administration building almost directly across from us, but I couldn't see or hear the Devastator.

"Stay here for a second," she told the three of us and then said to my mother, "Let's go."

The two of them went out of the door and into the very suspiciously quiet night, where the sky was just starting to turn purple in the east and signaling the upcoming dawn. The three of us were peeking at them through the just barely open door. They were clearly on guard and looking around them in all directions. The expected attack came just moments later. Ultraviolet quickly had her field up protecting both of them as the robot was firing at them from somewhere above. An explosion against her field knocked her back a little but she was able to hold it up that time. She then thrust her arms out and sent the field flying in the direction of the fire. I heard a large impact sound and then a huge crash.

"Go now!" she shouted at us. "Hurry!"

We flung the door open and then sprinted across the area toward the entrance of the administration building. I happened to look over to my left just as the Devastator was starting to get back up, and I swore those bright, evil-looking blue eyes locked directly into my own. A split second later we flew through the doors and into the lobby of the building. We paused to catch our breath.

"Everyone okay?" Chameleon asked.

"Yeah," his brother and I answered.

"Alright," he said. "I think it'll probably be a good idea if we used that shaft we went through earlier. That okay with you guys?"

"Sounds fine to me," Changeling said.

"Same here," I said.

"Okay, let's do this."

We went past the front desk and toward the shaft. I was surprised to see that the access panel was still open. It probably meant that no one else had been by there since the first time. Chameleon didn't hesitate at all and climbed inside and upward. His younger brother was next and I took up the rear. The shaft didn't seem as tall that time around and I wasn't tiring out as before. Maybe it was because I had long gotten used to it. Go figure.

Chameleon quickly made it to the top, pushed open the panel, and climbed out. Once all three of us were out, we quickly moved down the empty corridor toward the office. It probably wasn't occurring to us that we were rushing ahead without being careful but I could at least say for myself that I wasn't thinking about that at all. We made it to the office and went through the ruined doors. The office was still dark and empty, although the dead body of John Harriman had been removed, thank god. Still, I instinctively looked up at the ceiling, remembering what happened to us the last time we were there.

"Okay, search everywhere," Chameleon instructed. "That entrance has to be in here somewhere."

"Now if I was a secret entrance," Changeling said as he went over to one of the walls and ran his hands along it, "where would I be?"

"Someplace secret, that's where," his older brother said as he began searching the part of the office closest to the desk.

The three of us began to vigorously search the office around the walls, around the desk, around the fish tank, and even down on the floor. It didn't take long for us to almost literally be doing what Ultraviolet said and throwing stuff all over looking for that hidden door. We weren't having any luck and I for one was getting very frustrated.

I had wondered over to a very large bookcase that I hadn't noticed before. I pushed on it but it didn't budge. I started to move on, but stopped and looked at it again. I remembered that in some movies and stories the hidden door was always behind the bookcase. Was that the case here? I also remembered the trick that people would sometimes use to find a secret door. They would hold a candle or lighter along the edge and if it flickered, that would indicate a door of some sorts. Of course, I didn't need a candle or a lighted as my hand would do just fine. I raised up my right hand, made it glow just enough that flames began appearing from it, then ran it very slowly just in front of the top edge of the bookcase, watching for the slightest flicker.

"What are you doing?" Changeling asked me.

"Seeing if there's a hidden door behind this bookcase," I told him.

"You know that's one of the oldest clichés ever, don't you?" Chameleon said. "A secret door is not always behind the…"

He stopped as we all saw the flames around my hand flicker quite heavily when it approached the top right corner of the bookcase. The smile on my face was almost just as bright as my hand. "Not always behind the bookcase, huh?" I said. "Chalk up one for the clichés."

"I don't believe it," Changeling said.

"Well, let's not just stand around," Chameleon said. "Let's try to open it."

Since I knew that pushing on it didn't work, I started pulling out all the books that were there hoping that one of them would open it, another one of those clichés, of course. The two boys joined me and it took seconds for us to empty the entire case with no luck. Chameleon then pounded on the back of it with his fist. It definitely made a sound like there was nothing behind the case, but it still didn't open.

"There has to be some kind of switch or button around here that opens it," Changeling said.

"Good luck finding that," Chameleon said while looking around the office.

I agreed with him there. There were so many places that could disguise a button in that office. We had no choice, though, so we started searching for it in different areas. I was searching around and under the desk. When I didn't find anything, I rose back up and happened to look out the window, and froze as I saw the Devastator going after Ultraviolet and Mom. I saw Ultraviolet launch a few force waves and my mother shoot some ball lightning, and they were only slowing it down for a few seconds but not stopping it outright. Nothing seemed to be getting through that armor.

I was instantly divided, either stay there and help open the secret door, or go out there and help Ultraviolet and Mom with that machine. But if they were having trouble taking it down, then what good could I do? Well, my advantages were having flight and fire powers. I looked down at my hands as I remembered how I already used them a few times that night to destroy several of the different types of robots that we came across. Could they possibly work against the Devastator? That armor was very tough, but anything would melt given enough time and heat. I didn't have any kind of plan, but then again, I didn't have a plan when destroying those other machines, either. And once again, my unfortunate guilt streak was coming back stronger than ever.

"I know what you're thinking," Chameleon said from behind me. "I can't you from going and I know better than to try."

"Thanks," I told him without turning around. "But I don't know what I could do to help them if they're having trouble themselves."

"Well, if I were you," Changeling said, joining us by the window, "I'd go for the weapons. Maybe your fireballs can destroy them, or at least damage them enough so they wouldn't fire. If you can do that, you take away the biggest threat."

"That sounds like a plan to me," Chameleon said.

I thought about it for a few seconds, then nodded my head in agreement. "I'll do it," I said. "Wish me luck."

"Believe me, we do," Chameleon told me.

"Remember, T3, right?" his younger brother said.

"God," Chameleon muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Right," I said to Changeling. "Though I kinda agree with Leon and it might be better if you came up with a different name. We're still a team, though, so don't worry. Will you two be okay?"

"Don't worry about us," Chameleon said with a half smile. "We'll take care of the fort up here."

"You sure?"

"Yes. We'll find a way to get that door open. Now get out of here, will ya? They need you down there."

I nodded with a smile and turned back to the window. The two boys stepped back as I formed my aura and began to float off the ground. I then raised my hand and launched a fireball through the window, instantly shattering it into millions of pieces. I moved slowly out of the instant exit and looked over toward the robot. Surprisingly, it hadn't noticed me at all and still had its full attention on Ultraviolet and Mom, who by that time took cover behind a building. I knew it was only a matter of time before the machine noticed me, though.

I thought for a few seconds before coming up with some kind of an idea. I started by gliding slowly behind the machine, keeping my glow and sound low. When I got close enough, I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and then flew up and to the right. After a few seconds, I turned around and went into a power dive toward the robot, which by that time was starting to turn its head to look at me. Before it could do anything, I took careful aim and launched four fireballs, two for each of its weapons. I was pleasantly surprised when all four of them exploded against the machine's weapons. I didn't know how much damage that it did, if any, as I zoomed across the front of it and back up into the air. I thought I could hear my mother screaming up at me from the ground below, but I wasn't sure. It was probably for the best if I correctly guessed what she was saying.

I stopped in midair and turned around. I could easily see that the Devastator's weapons had been warped by my attack. They had to be useless now. I pumped my fist and did a somersault in the air as I couldn't believe that actually worked. However, my joy was very short lived as I noticed something emerging from the back of the machine. There was then a bright flash as the object was launched into the air. It was a missile. It went straight up for a few seconds before turning sharply and heading in my direction. It was tracking me, but how? The answer immediately came when I looked down at myself.

"Oh, God," I gasped as I figured that missile had to be heat-seeking.

I definitely didn't imagine the shouting coming from Mom and the two boys who happened to be at the broken window watching the whole thing that time. I quickly took off upwards and then to the left. I looked back and saw the missile was still with me. It was an almost exact repeat of my first incident with the Specter out in the woods. Borrowing from that moment, I flipped on my back, made my aura vanish, and shot a fireball at it. The missile actually turned into it and exploded on contact.

However, I screamed in surprise as a second missile that I never even noticed streaked by, missing me by just mere feet before it turned around and headed towards me. As I was losing altitude, I had no choice but to reform my aura and fly away. There was no way to know many missiles the robot had and how much longer I could keep avoiding and possibly destroying them before one eventually got me. I had to do something to end that.

As I flew back over the administration building, I saw the Devastator tracking both Ultraviolet and my mother but also occasionally looking up at me. I looked over my shoulder at the missile, then down at the machine, then back at the missile. An idea was forming in my head, one so crazy and insane that it didn't seem possible that it would work outside the movies. But that night had already been about crazy ideas and the impossible working so what was one more to add to the list. Besides, I didn't have much to lose, other than my life, of course.

I started by looping slowly back around, making sure that the missile was still following me but not too close. When I was behind the robot, I flipped over and then dove straight down toward the ground. I pulled up at the last second and headed toward the machine, which still had its back to me but was just starting to turn around. By that time, I stopped my motion and hovered right next to its head, watching the incoming missile very closely. At almost the exact moment it was on me, I quickly moved out of the way and stopped my aura, falling to the ground and tumbling away. The missile may have been fast, but there was no way it could react to my sudden my sudden move. It impacted solidly against the head of the Devastator and exploded in a huge fireball. When the fire and smoke cleared, I saw that its head and a good portion of its upper body was missing, the jagged hole left behind sparking violently. It remained upright for about five to ten seconds before starting to fall forward.

"Timber," I couldn't help but say.

The remains of the robot fell to the ground with a loud crash, making the ground shake and kicking up a huge cloud of dust. It then completely exploded, and I covered my head as pieces of the once fearsome machine rained down around me. I was still very much in shock over what had just happened. My plan actually worked and the Devastator was now devastated. I would've cheered, but I was tired and my mouth was dry, so I resorted to just smiling. Chameleon and Changeling however did the cheering for me.

"Yeah, you go, girl!" Chameleon said from the window above. I only waved at him from the ground.

Mom was quickly by my side. "Are you okay?" she asked, the concern thick in her voice.

"Yes, I'm fine," I told her in a slightly raspy voice.

She then pulled me close to her and hugged me tightly. "God, what were you thinking doing something like that?" Her voice was heavy with emotion. "Were you crazy? I thought I told you not to take any chances." She sighed deeply, then said, "You're making it really difficult for me to know how to deal with you, you know that? I don't know whether to ground you for a month for doing something so crazy and reckless, or to thank you so much for saving all our lives."

I actually laughed at that and she began laughing a little as well. But before I could say anything, there was a deep rumbling sound and then the ground began to vibrate, softly at first but steadily growing until it felt like a mini earthquake. Mom and I were quickly back on our feet and the rumbling grew louder and louder until, from an area just outside the facility to the south, a very large object rose out of the ground. It had to be the nanobot missile. As it rose completely out of the ground and up into the predawn sky, the fire coming from the bottom of it brightened the whole area, and the roar of the engine was loud and powerful enough to completely feel it in my bones. If it was another time and place and that missile wasn't deadly, I probably would've found the sight beautiful to look at, but all that it did right then was show us that time had run out.

"Come on, let's go!" Ultraviolet shouted to us while running to the administration building. "We still have time to stop it if we hurry!"

As we got close to the building, we had to stop as about five people came running towards us. It was easy to see that they were employees of the facility. They must've completely taken control of the place from all the bad guys. They also looked really scared as they saw the missile climb higher into the sky.

"What's going on?" one of them asked. "What is that rocket?"

"No time to explain," Mom told them. "Just find a safe place to hide until the police come."

"Okay," another one said. "Good luck." The group turned around and ran back the way they came.

"Can we really stop it in time?" I asked Ultraviolet as the three of us ran into the building.

"We can if we get to the control room in time," she said. "Did you find the hidden door?"

"We think so," I replied. "It's behind the bookcase."

"Good," she said as she pulled open the door to the stairs and we raced up them.

"How much time do we have?" Mom asked her.

"Well, if I think I know what it's going to do, it needs to achieve a high apogee before coming back down. It would also need to disperse at an altitude high enough for maximum effect but low enough not to be affected by the wind currents. That maybe gives us a time of between three to five minutes, at least."

We made it to the top floor of the building and sprinted to the office. Once there, we saw that Chameleon and Changeling were back at the bookcase. They still hadn't found a way to open it, but they were now kicking and punching it, probably hoping to break through it that way.

"Is that it?" Ultraviolet asked.

"Yeah," Chameleon replied.

"Stand back," she told them.

Once they were clear, she shot a force wave at the bookcase, which instantly splintered into large and small fragments. There were also large pieces of cinder block fragments as her wave completely broke through. As we suspected and hoped, there was a hidden passage behind what had once been the door. It was lit up in dim blue lighting and there looked to be a secret elevator at the end of it. There wasn't a button to activate it, only something that looked to be a hand scanner that was just to the right of it. Ultraviolet ran over and took a closer look at it.

"Damn," she said. "It's a top-of-the-line model, no way around it. We may have no choice but to force the doors open."

"Wait," Changeling said, going over to her. "I think I have an idea."

"What is it?" she asked him.

He didn't answer, but instead ran his right hand to the scanner and then lightly ran his fingertips across the surface. I realized quickly what he had in mind.

"What's he doing?" Mom asked.

"He's trying to get the DNA of Randy off the scanner so he could change into him," I explained.

"What?" Mom sounded surprised by that. I guess it was obvious that she had yet to see his power.

"Got it," Changeling said. "Here I go."

His shape and color began to change and distort as he slowly started turning into the very man that we were trying to beat. Even after all the times I've seen him change, I still wasn't used to seeing his body stretch, melt, and change color like that. I looked over at Mom and saw that she was watching his transformation in total fascination. A few more seconds passed before it was over and he had completely turned into Randall Allen Pine, vice president of ATI and cousin of Syndrome.

"Amazing," Mom whispered.

"Here goes," he said in that voice that I really hated.

He placed his right hand on the scanner. A beam of white light began at the top and moved down, scanning his hand. The whole thing then flashed green and made a couple of beeping sounds. The doors opened, revealing a polished stainless steel elevator.

"_Access granted," _a female computer said. _"Welcome back, Mr. Pine."_

"You're welcome," Changeling said as he began to turn back into his normal self.

"Excellent work," Ultraviolet told him and patted him on the shoulder. "Let's go."

The five of us piled into the elevator. There wasn't an up or down button, but there was a screen to the right of the doors that indicated where the elevator was, the level of the office, and the level to the secret control room, which looked to be quite some distance below the building. The doors shut and then the elevator started down at a faster pace than a normal elevator.

"Everyone up against the wall," Ultraviolet told us. "There's no idea what we could expect down there."

We did as she said and pressed ourselves up against the wall as the elevator approached the room. I felt myself getting more and more nervous. What could possibly be waiting for us down there? A self-defense system? More robots? Maybe even Randy himself? We were about to find out in a few seconds. Mom raised her hand and bands of electricity began to wrap around it.

The elevator stopped and then the doors opened. Both Ultraviolet and my mother jumped out and I was expecting to hear the sounds of a fight, but they never came. I risked a peep out of the open door. I saw a very large and expansive room that looked to be entirely made of concrete. It was mostly bare except for a few chairs, tables, and other small equipment. However, the most dominating feature by far was the huge monitors and computer panels that covered the entire wall directly across from the elevator. There was one huge monitor in the center, a couple medium sized ones, and about eight smaller ones. Surprisingly, all of them had a rotating 3D ATI logo on them, almost like a computer screensaver, and not any info on the missile. What was also surprising, if not shocking, was that Randy wasn't there at all. The room was totally deserted.

"Where is he?" Chameleon asked.

"I don't know, but there's no time to worry about him now," Ultraviolet said.

She ran over to the control panel and typed something in. The main screen flashed on, but this time it said _ENTER PASSWORD _and there was an eight-letter box underneath the words.

"Great, a password," Chameleon muttered.

"Alright, what eight letter words would he use?" Mom asked.

"I don't know," Ultraviolet replied. "Let's try 'nanobyte'." She typed that word in.

"_Access denied," _the same computer voice as the scanner said. A twenty-five second clock then appeared underneath the box and began counting down.

"What's that?" Mom asked.

"It means if we don't find the correct eight letter password, the entire system will lockdown," Ultraviolet explained. "We'd never be able to get back into it."

"Maybe it's 'Syndrome'," Chameleon suggested.

"Doubtful, but let's try it."

"_Access denied," _the voice repeated after she typed it in. The clock was now at ten seconds.

"Damn, what is it?" Ultraviolet almost mused to herself in frustration.

"Etybonan," Changeling seemed to say softly.

"What was that?" his brother asked him.

"Etybonan," Changeling repeated much louder. "Try that."

"Of course," Ultraviolet said and then quickly typed that in.

"_Access granted." _The clock stopped with just two seconds left. _"Welcome back, Mr. Pine."_

"You're welcome," Chameleon, Changeling, and I said together and then laughed.

"Don't start celebrating," Ultraviolet said to us. "This isn't over yet."

All the screens on the wall then turned on. Some of the smaller screens were showing different areas of the facility, including the office that we were in not two minutes earlier. One of the medium sized ones was showing a map of the entire Metroville region, and the other showing a steep arching track that had a flashing blip near the top of the arch. The huge screen in front of us was showing a black and white picture of what was most likely a camera on board the missile. It looked like it was starting to turn back down toward the city. It was so high up in the sky that the curvature of the Earth was visible and the city was nothing but a blob of lights far below. A timer on one of the smaller monitors read, _**0:58 SECONDS UNTIL DETONATION. **_

"Does it have a self destruct?" Changeling asked.

"I'm looking for it," Ultraviolet said, moving slightly to her left to another panel and began typing. A blue screen came up on one of the small screens in front of her. "Damn, this would be so much easier if he didn't steal my stuff," she muttered.

"Do you need any help?" Mom asked.

"No, I got it," she replied. "I'm almost there."

She stayed at that panel for a couple of seconds, then moved back to the first panel and started typing again. Her fingers were practically a blur over those buttons. She was doing so much right then that for a moment I was starting to wonder if she knew what she was doing.

"Thirty seconds," Chameleon warned. Metroville was starting to look pretty big on that giant screen.

"Thank you, I know," she told him. Almost immediately after, a blue screen came up and shared the camera view on the big screen. "Yes, I'm in," she said.

"What is that?" I asked her.

"I'm now linked to the main computer in the missile," she said. "It should have everything we need."

"Do you see the self destruct?" Chameleon asked.

"I just found it," she said, but then surprised me by adding, "but I can't use it yet."

"What?" He sounded incredulous. "Why not?"

"Because if I activate it now, then tons of burning wreckage is going to fall all over the city," she explained. "I'm trying to divert the missile over the ocean before I use it."

She began typing again, glancing a couple of times at the big screen and then at the screen with the map of Metroville. There was suddenly on the blue screen, _**WARNING: COURSE DEVIATION ENTERED. DO YOU WISH TO PROCEED? Y N. **_

"Of course, Y," she said, selecting that option.

_**COURSE DEVIATION CONFIRMED.**_

On the main screen, the image was starting to change as the ever growing city began to tilt away to the bottom and then out of sight. The missile was changing direction and heading away from the city!

"Ten seconds," Changeling said.

"Just a couple more seconds," Ultraviolet said. She watched the screen for about two more seconds before pressing a couple of buttons on the panel.

_**WARNING: MISSILE SELF DESTRUCT SYSTEM ACTIVATED. DO YOU WISH TO PROCEED? Y N.**_

"Yes!" Chameleon and I shouted at the same time.

Ultraviolet selected Y and pressed the button. Suddenly, all the screens in the room went totally black. I didn't know what was happening and it seemed like all five of us were holding our breath. Then, about five seconds later, the two most beautiful words that I've ever seen came up on the main screen.

_**MISSILE DEACTIVATED.**_

"We did it," Changeling whispered almost as if in shock, then shouted, _"We did it!!"_

Chameleon whooped in joy and then grabbed me in a very tight hug. I returned his hug just as tightly and then his younger brother came to join in and we were all hugging and cheering. I looked over to see Mom giving Ultraviolet a firm handshake before giving each other a slight hug. Ultraviolet then sort of half sat on the panel with her back to the screens with an actual smile on her face other than the small ones that she had all night. It was the first time that I saw her look really happy. Once Chameleon finally released me from his bear hug, I went over and gave Ultraviolet and gave her a hug as well.

"You did it," I told her.

"Just barely," she said. "I admit, it was getting quite hairy there for a moment. But you guys had just as much of a big part in all this as me, even despite some of the things I've said and done tonight. You've helped me out more that you could ever know. I just wanted you to know that."

"Thanks," I said.

I looked back up at the screen and the two words that were still on it. It didn't seem real at all, almost like it was a dream. _'We did it, we did it' _kept running through my head over and over, but it just wasn't registering yet. I was half expecting to see the words _**JUST KIDDING **_appear underneath the other words at any moment. I moved slightly out of the group and then leaned back on one of the panels. Mom came over to me and put her arm around me.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing," I replied. "I'm just feeling, well, um…"

"Overwhelmed?" she suggested with a smile.

"Yeah, that's it," I said.

"You're not alone, believe me," Chameleon said with a slight laugh.

Mom gave him a smile before looking back at me. "I know exactly how you feel," she told me. "I felt the same way my first time. It's a perfectly natural feeling that comes with the actions and responsibility of being a super."

"It was the same for me, too," Ultraviolet joined in. "It wasn't surprising at all, given what we went through back then. Only a very few supers start out against something as serious as this. A few of those can handle it the way you did. You should be proud of yourselves."

"I know I am," Changeling said.

"Hey, does anyone here know what happened to Randy?" Chameleon asked. "I find it really weird that he wasn't here."

That was right. I'd been so caught up in the frantic atmosphere of stopping the missile that I'd actually forgotten about him. That was a really good question. Why wasn't he there in his secret control room? One would think he'd stick it out in there until the very end, but then again, some villains just defied logical thinking. That's what led to the undoing of many of them over the years.

"I don't know, but I could probably find out," Ultraviolet said, turning back to the panels and screens. "He couldn't have gotten far."

As she began typing, I turned and asked Mom, "Why do you think he's not here, Mom?"

"One guess is because he wanted to get out of dodge," she replied. "Makes sense in a way. He was slowly losing control of the place and the police are on their way now. Better to run and turn up again another day instead of stay and possibly get caught."

"That was exactly what I was thinking," Changeling said.

"Okay, we're up," Ultraviolet said.

The blank screens suddenly flashed back on to reveal images from surveillance cameras all over the facility. Many of them had no activity, but there were a couple that had people walking around. They were all employees. I took a close look to see if Dad was among them, but I couldn't see him. The images were all rotating though different cameras, so I maybe had five seconds to study the current pictures before they changed.

"Wait a minute, go back," Changeling said very quickly.

"Which one?" Ultraviolet asked.

"That one with the _MagSpeed," _he said.

She brought that image up on the main screen. There was a man running toward the stairs that led up to the train. I recognized him immediately.

"That's him!" Chameleon shouted. "What's he doing?"

"Uh-oh," Ultraviolet said. "Let's go, now."

"Why?" he asked as all of us ran back to the elevator.

"He's trying to escape from here using the _MagSpeed," _she explained. "We might be able to catch him if we hurry. It takes a couple of minutes to fully power the train up. If he gets away and gets that thing up to full speed, we'd never be able to catch him, not by any conventional means anyway."

"I thought the line wasn't finished yet," Changeling asked as the elevator doors opened and we stepped in.

"The line to Munichberg isn't finished," she said, "but the line to Centralia is."

"How big is the system?" Mom asked.

"The line from Metroville to Centralia is a hundred seventy-five miles. He can cover that in less than half an hour at top speed. The track here connects with the main line almost thirty miles away."

"Why would he use something that seems so limited?" I asked.

"Speed, mainly. It's the fastest thing around. Not much would be able to catch him at top speed."

Once the elevator reached the top, we ran out through the office and eventually out of the building. The sky was now mostly dark blue with shades of orange and pink to the east. There were also a few more employees walking and running around. A few of them came over to us as we approached them.

"Is it over?" one asked.

"For the most part," Ultraviolet replied. "Sorry, but we don't have much time to talk. Do you have control?"

"We think so," another one said.

"Good. Just sit tight for a little while. You all should be going home shortly."

In fact, at that very moment, we could hear a lot of sirens in the distance. The police were almost there. It was an excellent sound to hear.

"We have to go now," she told them. "Take care of yourselves."

"Thanks for saving all our lives," a third said as we left them.

"No problem," Chameleon said back to them.

I felt a huge sense of pride and happiness when I heard that. It was almost cutting through the overwhelming feelings that I had. It brought up some very important questions that I really wanted to ask Mom but had to wait because I didn't have time to ask them and also because I wanted to wait until we were totally alone. It took us nearly a couple of minutes to reach the building where the _MagSpeed _was stored, just in time to see the very sleek train pull out and slowly pick up speed. The feeling of happiness came crashing down to be replaced by monumental disappointment. We didn't make it in time.

"Crap, we're too late," Changeling said.

"Not just yet," Ultraviolet said. "Come with me."

As she led us toward a more remote part of the facility, I really had to admire her calmness in a sense of urgency and how twice now, she didn't give up when all hope seemed lost. I knew it I'd been in change, Metroville would probably be getting destroyed at that very moment. Still, it was very obvious to be wondering what she had in mind.

"I thought you said we couldn't catch it once it was moving," Chameleon said as we ran.

"No, I said we can't catch it once it's at full speed," Ultraviolet corrected. "We have some luck right now. The onboard computers are automatically programmed for slow acceleration for comfort to the passengers. It'll take some time for it to get up to speed. If we hurry, we can catch it."

"But how?" Changeling asked.

She didn't answer, but moments later she stopped at a building in one of the far edges of the facility. "I hope it's still here," she said.

Before any of us could ask her what she meant, she whistled out a few notes. There was a beep, and then suddenly a part of the very air in front of us began to shimmer and warp as something was appearing. When it was over, what was sitting in the spot that I had once thought was just empty space was the coolest looking sport bike that I'd ever seen. It was black and purple and was very sleek. It looked like it was ready to burn up the road just sitting there. I had no idea that she'd even owned a motorbike. I just figured she still had access to the Incredimobile, if they ever finished putting it back together after the fight against the Atomizer ten years ago, that was.

"Whoa, that's sweet!" Chameleon exclaimed. "I didn't know you had a bike!"

"Well, I need a way to get around," she said as she climbed on, "although this is the first time I had it out in this type of situation."

"Whatever happened to the Incredimobile?" Changeling asked.

"Still in pieces after the Atomizer battle. Dad never bothered in getting it fixed again." She then started up her bike, which sounded like a mix between a power drill and a jet engine. "Alright, I need a volunteer to come with me."

"I'd come, but my injury would make me a burden," Mom said.

"I'll come," Chameleon said, walking up to Ultraviolet.

Then, without thinking about it and not really knowing why I did it, I spoke up. "I want to come with you, too."

"Jessica…" Mom started to object as I knew she would.

"Mom," I said, turning to her, "I have to do this. I'm a perfect choice for this. I'm the fastest super here and can keep up if something happens. Please let me do this."

"But…"

"Mom, we don't have much time. Trust me, please."

She was quiet for a few moments before she pulled me to her and gave me a huge hug. "Please don't make me regret doing this," she said but sounded more like a desperate plea.

"I won't," I told her, "Thank you."

She then whispered into my ear, "Go get him, honey." She then said to Ultraviolet in a voice that was clearly not a request, "You will take care of her."

"I will," she said before adding, "It was nice working with you again, Veronica."

"You, too, Violet," Mom said. It was somewhat surprising, but mostly not at all that they knew each other's real names.

"Okay, let's go," Ultraviolet said. Chameleon climbed onto the bike behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She revved up her bike before bringing it around and then taking off in pursuit of the train

Before I started forming my aura, I said to Mom, "Find Dad."

"I will, honey," she replied. "Good luck."

I nodded before I formed my aura and then shot up into the dawn sky, following Ultraviolet and Chameleon below me and hoping that we could catch up to Randy before it was too late.


	27. MagSpeed Showdown

**Chapter 27**

_Author's Note: I apologize for the six-month wait between updates, but my computer had two major crashes during that time and it took some time to get it back up to normal again. Thanks for your patience. Anyway, we're very close to the end, so here's the next chapter._

They say there comes a time in everyone's life when they do something incredibly brave and daring or just something within or just beyond their talent level and they might say to themselves, _'This is why I'm here. This is what I was born to do.' _That was what I was thinking as flew upward and then circled above the facility a couple of times, but I was also thinking to myself, _'What the hell am I doing?' _I was only fourteen years old and despite everything that happened that night, I was still very new at this. I still couldn't believe that I volunteered to do this and why I wanted to. My mother should be with Ultraviolet instead of Chameleon and myself and most likely would be if it wasn't for her injury. Remembering the anguish on her face when I told her that I was going was almost enough for me to go back down to her, but the fact that she also seemed to put her complete trust in me overrode that and I really wanted to make her really proud of me. All I had to do was not get hurt or killed in the process.

I could see a long line of police vehicles with their lights flashing and their sirens blaring in the distance coming down the same road that Chameleon, Changeling, and I used just a few hours earlier. It was signaling that this thing was almost over at last. All that was left was to catch the bad guy. I circled above the place one last time and then followed Ultraviolet and Chameleon who were just leaving the facility and riding along the raised track at a speed that seemed suicidal for any kind of bike on that type of ground. I was sure that Ultraviolet knew what she was doing. Still, I had to admit that I was kind of jealous that Chameleon was riding on that awesome looking bike instead of me. It looked to be one great ride even with all that bouncing around.

I dropped down a little but still remained above them as the wide open fields that surrounded the facility ended and the track was entering a heavily wooded area. I was starting to worry about them as there wasn't much clearance between the pillars of the track and the edge of the woods, maybe about six feet. At the speed they were traveling, and on relatively uneven ground at that, it probably wouldn't take much to send them into either one of the pillars or a tree, special bike or not. The double illumination of both the bike's headlights and my own aura probably helped out quite a bit, but they still had to be really careful. I really had to admire Ultraviolet's bike handling skills.

Not even a minute later, I could see the rear taillights of the _MagSpeed_ in the distance. It was definitely moving a lot faster than before, but we were slowing catching up to it. I could probably get to the train far quicker than Ultraviolet and Chameleon, but I wanted to stay above them, probably to provide them with some sort of cover. My heart was racing and my adrenaline level was really peaking. It was safe to say that I was very scared. There was no way to know what we'd be facing on board that train. It was safe to assume that Randy was there, but did he bring anyone or anything else with him? Were there other mercenaries or, god forbid, even more machines? I could live out the rest of my life without seeing another one of those intelligent killing robots, even if I far preferred to face off against them than a person.

There was something else that I started thinking about. Assuming that I survived in the end, what was I going to do about my life afterwards? Obviously I couldn't return to the way that I lived before all this started, scared of my powers and vowing to never use them again. The Jessica Wells of a few days ago was almost an entirely different person than the one chasing down a train and trying to catch a very dangerous man. Still, could I actually see myself becoming a full-time super and doing this sort of thing all the time? I really couldn't answer that question at that very moment. Maybe when this was all over and I was still alive, I would have a much clearer picture of my future.

We had almost completely caught up to the train. It had to be traveling well over a hundred miles an hour at that point and I swear it was still accelerating. I could probably easily keep up with it but I wondered how long Ultraviolet and Chameleon would be able to. There was also the question of how they were going to get up to the train in the first place. The entire track was elevated and unless there was some kind of ramp somewhere along the way or her bike had secret jumpjets, there was no way they would be able to get up onto the track. I was certain that Ultraviolet had some sort of trick up her sleeve, otherwise she probably wouldn't be chasing down the train in the first place.

In fact, I was so lost in that very thought that I almost didn't notice Ultraviolet motioning to me and then pointing up to the train. She was obviously trying to tell me something about it, but what exactly? I didn't quite understand. Was there someone in the back? I couldn't see anyone, but then again, it was really dark and the brightness of my own aura wasn't helping matters. I flew a little closer to her to see what she was trying to tell me. She couldn't yell to me because the rushing of the wind and the roaring of my aura would've made it impossible to hear anything. I shook my head to try to signal to her that I didn't get what she was trying to tell me. She pointed to me once again, then down at her left hand, made a forward motion with it, then pointed back to the rear of the train. Again, I couldn't understand what she was trying to tell me, but only for about a few seconds. Then, as if a light switch had been switched on inside my head, I totally figured out what she wanted me to do.

I nodded then flew up over the track and right behind the train, hoping that there wasn't anyone or anything back there to attack me. Moving fast, I shot a fireball from my right hand and it blasted through the large rear window. I actually had to move sharply to avoid getting hit by larges shards of glass. I probably could've flew under the train or back to Ultraviolet's side at that point and keep out of harm's way, but decided to take a very bold and risky chance and flew to and through the jagged remains of the rear window. Luckily, there weren't any people or machines back there waiting for me and I simply slid in through the opening and, like the many times before, didn't quite land on my feet.

I quickly got back up on my feet and looked around. The wind was wrapping around the back of the train and coming inside through the broken window, swirling around the room and blowing my hair across my face, but I could still see. I seemed to be in the control area of the train, at least the one that wasn't in active control. Everything seemed to still be on in there, though, lighting, screens, and buttons, most of them flashing different colors. It looked like some kind of futuristic spaceship from a sci-fi movie. Most of the screens were showing info that I had no understanding of, but one of them seemed to be showing the speed of the train. It was currently going 137.4 miles an hour and was still speeding up. Wow, just how fast could this thing actually go? Hopefully, not so fast that Ultraviolet and Chameleon wouldn't be able to get on board.

Right when I was thinking that, I saw something small and bright shoot up from underneath and to the right of the track and come toward the train at great speed. I had to move out of the way as the object, a grappling hook, shot through the broken window and onto the floor. It expanded to about three times its size as it was dragged back to the opening and caught the edge of the front panel. The line went taught and I wondered how they were going to safely get on board. Just then, I saw both Ultraviolet and Chameleon shoot up from below and high up into the air. Before they came back down, Ultraviolet formed a half-spherical force field underneath them both and landed on the track with a crunch. They were being pulled along with the train, the field making a strange grinding noise on the track beneath them. They almost looked like water-skiers being pulled along by a boat, and in fact, they may have created the newest addition to the growing trend of extreme sports, train-skiing. It probably would've been fun if it weren't so serious. Ultraviolet was reeling the both of them in with the gun that I assumed fired the hook. It only took a few seconds for them to reach the opening and climb aboard. I swore Chameleon looked a little pale.

"Are you okay?" I asked him, having to speak a little louder because of the wind.

"Fine," he replied. "That was one good ride. Highly recommend it."

"It probably was, but I think I'll pass."

Ultraviolet wasn't paying attention to us but instead was up at the front panel looking over the screens and even pressing a few of the buttons. I couldn't tell what she was trying to do, but I assumed that since she was the project leader of the _MagSpeed, _she probably knew a lot more about the train than anyone else.

"Can you stop the train?" Chameleon asked.

"Not from here," she replied. "There are several safety features that prevent that sort of thing. It could be overridden by a code, which I do have…"

"So can you use that?"

"I was just getting to that part. The override code can be overridden and disabled as well, and it looks like it has. The only way to shut this train down now would be in the front cab, most likely where Randy's at now."

"Well, that's just great," I muttered.

"Ready for even better news? Randy wouldn't have done that unless he knew we were already on the train. He'll be ready for us, as well as anyone or anything else he brought with him."

"Sure to be one great party, then," Chameleon said.

"Maybe," Ultraviolet said. "I'm not saying that's the case, but we must assume that he's not alone on the train."

"So what's the plan?" I asked her.

"The layout of this train is both an advantage and disadvantage," she said. "If it was a single deck, then it would be no real problem, but the fact it has two greatly complicates things. There's many more places he could hide and ambush us."

"So what do you want us to do?" Chameleon asked.

She seemed to think about it for a few seconds before she replied, "You two still don't have much experience, but we don't have much of a choice. I'll take the lower half of the train while you both take the upper half and we'll work our way forward. Watch your backs."

"Same to you," Chameleon said to her.

She nodded, and then said to us in as serious tone a voice as I've heard her say, "Listen to me very carefully on this one because it'll likely save your life. _Do not _hesitate to kill if the situation depends on it. Yes, I know how that sounds and how that might go against your principles, but that's the price for being a super. They won't take it easy on you just because you're teens so you must do the same. Do you understand?"

Chameleon answered her in a very quiet voice while I only nodded very slowly. While I understood what she was saying and actually agreed with most of it, I still very much hated that she said such a thing. Basically, she was telling me to do the very thing that I was afraid of so much that I swore off using my powers for four years to prevent it. I wasn't a killer and couldn't see myself ever being one, even in self-defense. But still, thinking about it in the relative calm of that moment and being placed in a life-or-death situation with only a split second to think were two totally different things. How would I react? There were signs over the last couple of days, and while there weren't enough pieces to form a complete picture, it was still enough to scare me. I was very much aware that I most likely wouldn't have a choice when and if that time comes.

"We only have a few minutes before the train reaches the junction in the tracks," she told us. "From there, he'll head to either Metroville or Centralia. He can reach either city in fifteen minutes if he takes it to full speed."

"Isn't he kinda limiting himself of escape options?" Chameleon asked.

"Who knows what he's thinking," she said. "Maybe he has some kind of plan or maybe he's just running scared. Whatever it is, it's vital that he doesn't escape the train."

"We gotcha. Let's do this."

Chameleon then stuck his fist into the center of our group. Almost automatically, I put my hand on top of his. I suppose it was because it gave a feeling of familiarity and solidarity and reminded us that we were in this together. I guess that's what it didn't really surprise me too much when Ultraviolet put her right purple-gloved hand on top of ours. I did give her a curious look, though.

"My family used to do the same thing before our missions, at least during the first few years," she said. "We kind of stopped doing that after a while. I don't know why." Her voice got softer and her eyes had a faraway look in them as she said that. It disappeared just as quickly and she was back to business. "Let's go. Keep behind me and watch for anything suspicious."

We nodded and we started to follow her towards the door that was in the back of the control room. Just when we were about to get to the door, she motioned for us to step to the side while she punched in a code on a keypad. The door slid open with a hiss and there was a strange noise coming from the other side. She looked through the open door for a few seconds before going through it and waving for us to follow her. We were in a large room that seemed to be crammed full of boxes, wires, piping, and other kinds of machinery. There wasn't much space for us to walk down the center of it all. There was a loud humming noise with an even louder continuous whine. The boxes looked to be like some sort of big batteries. Maybe this was the engine room or something like it.

"Is this the engine room?" Chameleon asked, almost having to yell above the noise.

"Sort of," Ultraviolet replied. "The train gets most of its power from the tracks. This area is mostly a backup in case that power's gone, but it's also used to power some of the systems on the train."

About ten more seconds would pass before we arrived at another door. As there wasn't any room to move to the side, we stayed behind Ultraviolet as she opened the door, two doors, actually. We were leaving the train engine and moving into the next car. It was completely empty save for a lot of shelves, racks, and securing straps.

"Let me guess, the baggage car, right?" I asked.

"Yeah," she said as we quickly made it to the other side of the car. She paused just before we got to the doors and said, "We're about to enter the passenger cars now. These are the most likely places for ambushes. Don't worry, just keep together, do what you've been doing all night, and we'll come through this alive and in one piece. I know you'll do fine."

Chameleon and I both nodded as she opened the next two doors and we stepped into the first passenger car of the train. It was very dark, only lit up by a pair of bright blue stripes on the floor and a few dim lights on the walls. I could see dozens of seats with tables in between. There were very large windows on both sides but I couldn't see anything through them since it was still dark outside. The air was thick with the smell of new paint, leather, and wood, basically the smell of a brand new vehicle. There weren't any signs of people hiding in there, but I could easily see how they could. Ultraviolet moved over to a set of stairs that happened to be right next to us.

"There you go," she told us. "Just remember what I told you. I'll meet you up front. Good luck to you both."

"Same to you," Chameleon told her.

With that, the three of us separated, Ultraviolet continuing down the aisle while Chameleon and I slowly climbed up the stairs to the second level. The stairs had small strips of light built into them so we could see where we were going. There wasn't a place to hide on those stairs, so we were basically just going up to the top and hoping for the best, at least I was, anyway. Luckily, there wasn't anyone waiting for us when we got up there. Realizing that, I noticed that this floor had almost the exact same layout as the one below, with some differences such as a more curved ceiling.

"Man, I feel sorry for my brother," Chameleon said. "He really wanted to see the inside of this train."

"Maybe he'll still get the chance to," I said.

"Probably. Not anytime soon, though." He then ran his hand along one of the seats and pushed down on it. "Wow, feel this. That's gotta be some expensive leather there."

I reached over and felt the seat. Whoa, it really did feel nice, easily better than any car seat I've felt before. I was half tempted to sit down in the chair to see what it really felt like, and I probably would have if the large screen that was in the very front didn't turn on at that moment. At the same time, small TVs came down from the ceiling and also turned on. They were showing a smiling young woman dressed in some kind of uniform.

"_Hello there," _she said, her voice coming from the many speakers throughout the car. _"Welcome on board the MagSpeed, the world's most advanced passenger train. Here you will experience the future of long distance transportation by train, getting to your destination quickly and safely, with the very best in luxury and service. We…"_

"It's a recording," Chameleon said. "You know, like one of those welcoming and safety videos they play on planes before they take off. He probably turned it on to try and throw us off or something."

"Do you think he's close by?" I asked.

"Well, he's close by anyway. There's no way for him to get off the train, at least I hope not. Come on, we should keep moving forward."

We started moving again as the recording continued, _"…event of an emergency, it may be necessary to evacuate the train through the marked emergency exits. Please follow the instructions of the train staff in the event an emergency is declared."_

"This seems like a big enough emergency to me," Chameleon said, chuckling a little. "So where's the staff?"

"Probably slacking off on the job to the point of being nonexistent," I joked.

We both laughed a little at that. It was a good feeling and it helped relive some of the tension, but only for a second or two. We were back to being serious the moment we reached the door. It slid open by itself with a hiss and we stood there for a few seconds before going through as the video concluded, _"…like ATI's motto, the MagSpeed truly brings the future to today's world. Thank you for choosing MagSpeed to get to your destination, and have a very pleasant journey."_

"Hasn't been so far," Chameleon said quietly and I laughed a little at that.

The next car had almost the same layout as the one we just came from, but seemed more luxurious with bigger seats, larger TV screens, and more exquisite fittings. There was also what looked to be a mini bar along part of the right wall. Wow, what a train. I could clearly see why people were excited about it. I definitely wouldn't mind taking a trip on it if given a chance, that is, once it's in regular service and not being hijacked by a crazy guy. I wondered how much it would set someone back to ride in this particular car. Probably more than my family could afford, that was for sure.

"Wonder how much it costs to ride here," Chameleon said.

"You know, I was just thinking the same thing," I told him.

He chuckled. "Yeah, I bet. I mean, it's hard not to with all-"

He was cut off by the sound of a weapon firing. It sounded like one of those laser guns that the machines used. Chameleon and I looked at each other. It was difficult to tell exactly where it was coming from, but it sounded close, and possibly in the next car over.

"Come on," Chameleon quickly said.

We ran the rest of the way through the car and hurried through the doors as they slid open. We were in what looked to be the dining car or something like it, but I didn't bother to look any closer as I was more concerned with Ultraviolet's well being. I didn't see her there, but that didn't mean that she wasn't in trouble. There was still a whole lot of this train to go through. Still, that noise had been really close by, and it clearly came from somewhere ahead of us. There was a staircase that was next to us and I took a look down them. It was too dark to see anything.

"I'm going down to check it out," Chameleon said. "Stay here for a moment."

Any other moment I would've been totally against it, and in a way I still was. I didn't think it would be a good idea for us to split up. Hell, it wasn't a good idea for us to be on the train to begin with. There were probably hidden dangers all over that we weren't familiar with. But we were there anyway, and we had to look out for each other, so I nodded.

"Watch your back," I told him.

"Always," he said. He then slowly walked down the stairs, turning himself invisible as he went.

Now alone on the upper floor, I took that moment to finally take a closer look around. It definitely looked to be the dining car. There were about a dozen tables there with a white sheet, linen probably, covering them. There were also expansive skylights on the roof, letting in the tiny bit of early dawn light. As much as I wanted to gaze at the furnishings some more, the current situation didn't allow for any kind of a letdown of my guard. Still wondering about the source of the earlier noise, I slowly walked down the aisle and peered underneath the linen covered tables. There wasn't anything under any of them.

Looking back across the length of the car, I was struck with the sensation of how creepy the whole scene was. There I was, alone on the dimly lit second floor of the dining car of a train that Randy had stolen in an attempt to escape from the facility. Other than him, Ultraviolet, Chameleon, and myself, I still didn't know who, or what, else was on board. This was another one of those times I wished I had disappearing powers like Ultraviolet and Chameleon.

A quiet but very noticeable sound came from behind me, making me quickly spin around. There was nothing there, but I know that I heard something. Well, at least I think I did. It could've been just frayed nerves. I mean, I'm sure other supers went through these motions on their first time out. Still, considering where we were, it probably would've been a good idea to check it out, despite the danger.

Almost as if something read my mind, the noise came again. It was a soft creaking noise, once again quiet but noticeable. It seemed to come from a room next to one of the entry doors, probably either a bathroom or a storage room. It was impossible to tell exactly what the noise was, but I didn't want to take any chances. I raised up my right hand, lit it up, and then slowly walked toward the source of the sound. I was taking shallow breaths and my heart was racing in my chest, but I still forced myself to move forward. It took some time for me to reach the door. Standing just outside the door, I closed my eyes, took a very deep breath, and then flung open the door. It was a totally empty room, most likely a storage space. A loose panel along one of the walls was vibrating a little. I pushed on the panel and it creaked, making the sound that I heard earlier. I lowered my hand and greatly relaxed. It turned out to be nothing after all. Almost angry with myself for what probably was an overreaction, I turned back around…and screamed and fell back into the room as a face suddenly appeared in front of my own.

"It's me, it's me," Chameleon said quickly.

It took a few seconds and a few breaths to calm back down. "Jeez, Leon, you scared the hell out of me."

"Sorry, didn't mean to," he said as he held out his hand. I took it and he pulled me back up on my feet. "What's going on? Did you find something in there?"

I shook my head. "No, just a false alarm. What about you?"

"There wasn't anything down there," he told me. "The door to the next car was locked. Let's try this one."

We walked over to the door that would lead to the next car. I wasn't all that surprised when that one didn't open. Randy probably locked them to prevent us from moving through the rest of the train and reaching him. There was also the chance that they were already locked long before the train left the facility. I was betting more on the former. The sound both of us heard earlier seemed to come from the car in front of us. Maybe Ultraviolet got over there. Chameleon went over to the door and tried to open it with his hands but it didn't budge an inch.

"You'll probably have to blast through it," he told me.

"I'm on it," I said with a nod.

I stepped back and then raised my right hand, ready to blast through the door. Before I could even start to form a fireball, Chameleon suddenly grabbed me and pushed me off to the side. A split second later there was the loud sound of a weapon firing and then a scream. Being a little disoriented from the throw, it took a few moments for me to get up from the table that I'd been tossed into. I shook my head to clear it, turned around to see what happened, and let out a scream of my own.

Chameleon was lying on the floor, a large smoking burn on his chest! He wasn't moving at all.

"Oh, God!" I quickly moved over to him and grabbed onto his shoulders, shaking him to see if I could get a response. "Leon! Leon, wake up! Come on!" He still wasn't moving.

"Oh, God, no," I whispered. In desperation, I ripped off both of his gloves and my own and then felt his right wrist, looking for a pulse. I couldn't find one. As much as I was trying to control it, my panic was reaching critical levels. It was making it impossible for me to think straight and it wasn't even registering in my mind that I was totally exposed to whoever or whatever had just shot him. Right then the only thing on my mind was my friend lying on the floor and praying that he wasn't dead.

Not finding a pulse on his wrist, I moved up and lowered my ear next to his nose and mouth, hoping to hear and feel a breath. I couldn't feel one. Maybe my mask was making it difficult to feel his breath, but what if…what if he really was…No! I wasn't going to accept that! In another desperate attempt, I covered his nose with one hand, opened his mouth with the other, and then placed my own mouth over his and breathed into it.

"No, Leon!" I said between breaths. "No, you're not gonna die on me! Don't you even dare! You hear me? Come on, dammit!"

But yet, even as I was saying that and continuing to breathe into his mouth, he still wasn't responding. Even with my stubborn streak being in full swing, a growing part of me was starting to accept that he probably wasn't going to come back. Eventually, I stopped and just hovered over him, hyperventilating from both the mouth-to-mouth and the overwhelming torrent of feelings inside me. Tears were flowing from my eyes, down my mask, and dripping onto his face.

It wasn't fair at all. How could this happen? Actually, I knew exactly how it happened. It was because we were being too stupid and careless, that's why. It was because we were so concerned with the threat in front of us that we weren't thinking that it could also come from behind, even through the way that we already came. I know I was, at least. Also, just a couple minutes earlier I was chastising myself for getting frightened by nothing, but what if by doing that I started to ignore my senses and as a result I didn't detect the attack?

There was probably something else as well. Despite all that we went through during the night, and the fact that this was nearing the end, there was probably a subconscious letting down of our guard, like we were thinking that nothing more could happen to us. Now the harsh reality had literally hit us, and at that moment I've never felt so alone and useless. Looking down at Leon, I did a surprising thing and leaned down and gave him a slight kiss on the lips. It just seemed like the right thing to do.

"Thank you," I told him.

I then proceeded to drag him underneath one of the tables and covered him completely up with the sheet. When that was done and I stood back up and looked down at him, I felt another feeling rise inside me. It was pure, almost uncontainable rage. I didn't even bother trying to calm it and was actually feeding off it. This madman had tried to kill my mother, had succeeded with Leon, and who knew what happened to Ultraviolet, not to mention that he tried to kill millions more in Metroville. He was going down, carelessness and recklessness be damned.

I heard a familiar hissing noise and looked down. This time it wasn't just my hands on fire, it was my entire body. The flames surrounding my body were far more intense than my usual aura. I was surprised to see that my boots were actually starting to burn holes into the floor and was probably close to catching fire. It probably would've been mesmerizing and maybe even scary to look at in another time, but right then strangely I wasn't bothered by it.

I decided to keep moving forward. With the door locked, I raised my hand and blasted the door to pieces. I then stepped through the opening and into the next car. The blazing aura lit up the darkened area and I could hear sizzling noises as my feet continued to make smoldering footprints into the carpeted floor. Worried that I might accidentally torch the entire train, I stopped and tried to force myself to calm down. It took a while but I managed to extinguish the fiery aura. Once again back in the dark, I moved toward the door to the next car. Unfortunately, I didn't get any further than a step before I felt a weapon press against the back of my head.

"Hello, Phoenicia," I heard Randy sneer from behind me.

I closed my eyes and sighed softly, not so much from being frightened rather than being angry with myself once again for failing to pick him up. It cost Leon his life and was about to cost me my own.

"Hello, Randy," I said, trying to sound a lot braver than I felt.

I heard him chuckle. "You supers, still so predictable even after all these years. Still so determined to stop the bad guy at any cost and win the day once again. When will you all learn that you're not as invincible as you think?"

"Probably at about the same time you bad guys learn that there will always be people out there to stop you, if not us," I shot back.

"Maybe, but it won't be you. You're also about to learn that you can't ruin other people's plans and expect to get away with it. Tell me one thing first to something that's been bothering me. Was Ultraviolet so desperate as to need a couple of children to help her out instead of her own family?"

"She wasn't desperate," I told him. "We came on our own. You tried to kill my mom."

"Your mom?" He sounded confused. "Electricia is your mother? Of course. It all makes sense now, why you came there. So she has a daughter, or maybe I should say had. Sorry sweetheart, but we can't have you following in mommy dearest's footsteps and making a name for yourself."

While he was talking, I carefully looked over to the left without moving my head. We were right next to one of those large windows that covered the sides of the train. A crazy idea began to form inside my head. Maybe…just maybe…I slowly and very carefully raised my left hand up while keeping my arm to my side.

"I can't believe you're willing to shoot innocent teens," I said, trying to keep him taking for just a few moments more. "I mean, what kind of insane maniac are you anyway?"

He chuckled again. "Insane maniac? Come now, I would think kids these days could come up with better insults than that, and I think we both know you're far from being innocent. No more talk. Sorry to cut you down when you're just starting out, but it's nothing overly personal."

At that moment, I launched a fireball right through the window. It shattered instantly, and almost instantaneously the cabin was filled with roaring wind and noise. The wind actually had enough force to knock both of us down to the floor. Quickly getting back up onto my feet, I could see through my whipping hair that Randy was still on the floor. If I had better fighting skills, was still being totally controlled by my rage, or was just plain stupid, I probably would've taken him on right then and there, but since I didn't and I was alone, I did the smart thing and took off running. Flying obviously would've been faster, but it would've taken too much time just to form my aura, not to mention there wasn't any room to safely do that anyway.

As quick as I was trying to get away from him, I wasn't quite quick enough. I had ran back through the blasted door and was going to jump over the railing of the stairs to escape, but right when I started to do just that, I heard Randy fire his weapon, and then I felt a sharp, intense pain in my right leg. A scream of pain was forced from my throat as I fell over the railing and then tumbled down the stairs.

At the bottom of the stairs, breathing through clenched teeth, I took a closer look at my now throbbing right leg. I saw that there was a hole in my suit at about the mid-thigh level. The exposed skin looked seriously burned and was even oozing blood in some spots. I think that I was just too stunned to totally grasp that I'd been shot by some sort of strange weapon and that I might've been seriously hurt. I knew that there was no way I could run or maybe even walk on my leg. I mostly likely had to face him.

I was able to get back up but I couldn't put any weight on my injured leg. To my left, there was an area that looked like a kitchen. It was dark in there, and there seemed to be a few places where I could probably stay out of sight. I had to mostly hop on my left leg, which made moving around slower and a little noisier. Maybe it would've been faster and easier if I formed my aura and just floated around instead of actually fly, but the light would most likely give me away.

I hobbled over to the darkest area of the kitchen where there was a corner and then slid down the wall to the floor. The pain in my leg was so intense that it was all I could do to keep from whimpering. It was difficult to tell just how much blood was coming out of my wound, especially there in the dark, but it had to be quite a bit considering how slick it was around the edges. I wondered if I was leaving behind a blood trail. Again, I couldn't see anything because it was so dark, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was one. I would suppose that it was fortunate it was dark so maybe Randy wouldn't be able to see it if he followed me down. I thought about tying something around it, but I decided that anything I used would be instantly burned off if I had to take flight.

It was then that I heard slow footsteps coming down the stairs. I pulled myself deeper into the corner, wincing as I had to move my leg. I was relatively well hidden in that dark corner, but that was only as long as Randy didn't come through the kitchen. If he did and he saw me, then, well, was I still in any shape to fight him? As he was trying to kill me, then I was probably going to have to try and do the same. Wow, how things had changed so much, so quickly. Just a few days ago, the thought of using my powers to even hurt someone else, let alone kill them, would've horrified me. Now, there I was thinking the same thing and while I still didn't like it, I seemed to be far more accepting of it. Maybe it was because I was finally taking both Ultraviolet and my mother's words to heart. Kill or be killed. That was the harsh reality of being a super, and if I wanted to continue being one, that was something I was going to have to learn to do.

The footsteps stopped at the bottom of the stairs. The seconds of silence that followed was actually more unnerving than the sound. I was doing everything that I could to control my slightly erratic breathing due to the pain. I wanted to peek around the corner to see what he was doing, but I was afraid that the moment I stuck my head out, he would blast it off. Still, I had my hand up, ready to use my powers if necessary. I wasn't going to go down without a fight.

The footsteps started again, and it sounded like they were coming into the kitchen. Somehow I was expecting that, and I was ready, well, as much as I could be. I obviously couldn't just jump out and surprise him, but that probably wouldn't have been a great idea even if I didn't have a leg injury. So I continued to sit there, but had my hand up, ready to light it the moment he appeared. It seemed very likely that one of us wasn't going to survive. I closed my eyes and said a quick prayer.

Suddenly, I heard something fall down the stairs. Actually, it sounded more like someone. What was going on now? I figured that it was worth risking a peek around the corner. Doing just that, I saw that the man was indeed Randy, but he had his back towards me. However, it was the person that fell down the stairs that got my extremely shocked attention. It was a very much alive Chameleon, although it looked like he wouldn't be for long as Randy had him squarely in his sights. As much as I wanted to celebrate that he was still alive, I had to do something fast or he was going to end up being dead for real.

Almost faster than I thought was possible, my aura formed and I was already floating above the floor. I was actually surprised that I was able to form it so quickly as well as being relieved that my leg wound wasn't affecting my powers at all. I was able to quickly get behind Randy, which was even more surprising to me since I thought that he would be able to see the glow coming off my aura. Well, as long as he didn't, then it was fine by me. I raised my right arm and lit it.

"Hello again, Randy," I said.

He turned around and he actually had a quizzical look on his face as he saw me. It occurred to me that this was that first time he saw my powers. The look was quickly replaced by a small smirk.

"Supers, so hard to kill," he said. "What am I going to do with you?"

"Well, I can tell you what you could do," Chameleon said, slowly getting up on his feet and wincing quite badly as he did. Obviously he was hurting as much as I was. "You can give up. It's over."

Randy chuckled. "Over? Do you really think it's over already? Not yet."

I was puzzled by that response. "What do you mean? We stopped your missile and the police have probably rounded up all your guys back at the facility. You're trapped on this train with no way of escaping. How can you say it's not over?"

He pulled out some sort of thing that looked like a tiny box. I couldn't tell exactly what it was from that angle, but I could definitely see that it had a coupe of buttons. It didn't take any sort of genius to know that a villain that held a thing with buttons on it could only mean trouble. What sort of trouble, I didn't know, and very likely didn't want to.

"I'm not going to be beaten by a couple of children," he said.

Time seemed to slow down for me right then, and I could see his thumb moving toward one of the buttons. I didn't think at all and just reacted. I shot a fireball from my extended arm and it hit his hand, knocking the device out. He cried out and clutched his hand as Chameleon made a leap for the small box. Randy quickly recovered and leapt on top of Chameleon and the two were struggling for the device. I would've helped out Chameleon out but I was afraid that my injury would make me more of a hindrance than actual help. That didn't mean I was staying completely out of the fight and was ready to help out in any way.

Unfortunately, it didn't take long for Randy to pry the device out of Chameleon's hands. Before either of us could do anything, he pressed the button. I didn't know what to expect, maybe the train exploding or something. Luckily for us it didn't, but the button did seem to do something to the train as it suddenly accelerated, so fast that it caused both Chameleon and Randy to fly up into the air and slam against one of the walls. As for me, since I was still floating in the air, the train effectively sped up around me, and from my perspective the back wall of the kitchen seemed to very suddenly rush forward and crash into me. Due to the acceleration, I was plastered against the wall and couldn't move, and neither could the other two from what I could see. I could also hear breaking and smashing noises coming from other parts of the train. What had Randy done?

Eventually, the force lessened to the point that I fell down from the wall and onto the floor, sadly landing almost totally on my bad right leg. I couldn't help but cry out as an immense wave of pain surged from my leg and went through my body. I was lying on the floor moaning softly and clutching my leg, pretty much immobilized. There was no way I could concentrate on using my powers being in that much pain. Chameleon didn't seem to be doing much better, either, as it looked like the sudden speed increase caused him to slam front first into the wall, where his own injury was. He was now on the floor like me, mostly curled up with his arms wrapped around his chest. Basically, with just the press of a button, Randy had managed to regain the advantage. Man, where was Ultraviolet when we needed her the most? Hopefully she wasn't as injured as we were.

While both of us were still on the floor, Randy himself was able to get back up and grab his strange looking weapon, the same one he shot us both with. It looked like he was intending to finish the job. Once again, our inexperience caught up to us. We had learned so much tonight, but we still had so much more to learn, and we probably weren't going to, either. He came over and put the weapon directly against my forehead. Ladies first, it looked like.

'_Mom, Dad, I'm sorry,' _I thought.

"No," Chameleon said, trying to save me even though I knew he couldn't.

"Say goodbye to your girlfriend," Randy said.

I closed my eyes and waited for my certain death. A split second later, though, instead of hearing the sound of a weapon firing, I heard what sounded like a very hard punch. I opened my eyes in time to see Randy go flying back against the wall and then slid down onto the floor, totally out cold. A couple of seconds later the air in front of us warped and Ultraviolet appeared into view. I couldn't describe the huge sense of relief that I felt and I swore that I've never seem a more beautiful sight in my life.

"How about goodnight," she said to him. She then turned to us and asked, "Are you both okay?"

"Not quite," Chameleon said. "What happened to you?"

"I had to break through a few locked doors, not to mention getting into a fight with him," she replied. "He somehow managed to lock me in a storage room that I had a helluva hard time trying to break out of. I would've helped out a lot sooner if that hadn't happened. What I'd like to know is what happened to you both."

"He ambushed us," Chameleon told her. "Tell me, is it bad?"

She took a look at both of our injuries and told us, "Yeah, they both look serious, but they're treatable. They look to be healing themselves already."

"Bless super healing abilities and these suits then," I said.

"Well, yeah, that has mostly to do with it, but it was also where you were hit, too. Don't worry, you'll both be fine in a few days." She walked over to Randy and knelt down over him, checking his condition and searching him. It was then I noticed that blood was leaking from his nose. She picked up his weapon and put it on her belt. "Too bad things won't be so fine for him soon, though."

She went over to what looked like a small locker and opened it. She pulled out a long yellow rope from it and went back to Randy. She used the rope to tie his hands and feet behind his back. It looked really uncomfortable and reminded me of those rodeos where they tie the animal's feet just like that.

"That should hold him for a while," she said. She then noticed the device that he used earlier and picked it up. "What's this?"

"It's something he used to make the train speed up," Chameleon told her.

"Ah, so that's what happened. Why don't you say we end this, shall we? I'll go up to the front and stop the train. You two stay here and watch over him." She started to leave but then stopped and told us, "Don't think for a second that you both did anything wrong. Things happen when you're a super. Don't dwell on the fact that he ambushed you and you got hurt, okay? Remember, the most important thing is that you're both alive and he's stopped. I meant it when I said I'm really proud of you guys." She then left us and walked towards the front.

"Are you alright?" Chameleon asked me.

"Actually, I should be asking you that," I said. "God, I thought you were dead, Leon. Don't you ever scare me like that again, you hear me?"

He seemed surprised by my reaction, but he said, "Okay, I won't. I'm sorry I scared you. It wasn't my intention to get shot, you know. Man, I think I'm going to be a little tender in the chest for a while. I guess you're the reason I found myself waking up underneath a table."

"Yeah," I told him. I shifted a little and winced as a strong twinge of pain shot up my leg, and added, "I know what you mean by being sore for a while."

"So what happened?"

"He shot me while I was trying to get away from him," I explained. "I guess I should be glad it was my leg and not my head, but that doesn't mean I'm happy he did it."

"Yeah, I'm just happy he's tied up there and this will all be over soon." He then laughed a little. "Well, I must say once again this wasn't how I expected my first time out as a super would be like. It was kind of fun, to be honest, other than my car being blown up, being shot at by strange machines with strange laser weapons, and ended up getting hit anyway by this guy here. Still, I think I could see myself going full time with this. What about you, Jess?"

I was quiet for a while, thinking over everything that happened. "I don't know. I mean, just a few days ago I never would've done this, no way, no how. Yet here I am, doing the very thing I swore I'd never do. I really don't know what to think about all that right now. But I still think we did the right thing. He had to be stopped."

"I agree," he said. "You know, I think we could be quite a formidable team."

I actually laughed a little. "Oh God, don't tell me your brother's overzealousness of creating a team has rubbed off on you."

He laughed himself. "No, not really. But seriously, though, even you have to admit we'd be awesome if we joined forces. Let's see, I have the stealth, my brother has the style, and you have the firepower. Just think how what a combination that would make. Metroville would never know what hit them. I mean, what do you really think about that?"

I sighed. "Look, Leon, I'm still not sure I'll be doing this again. Okay, I admit some of it was fun, but part of it only confirmed why I didn't want to do this in the first place. Like I said, I'm glad we stopped the bad guy from destroying Metroville, but I also had to do so much that went against my vow that I don't know what to think anymore. It's just too much to take in right now, and probably for a while. You just can't get rid of four years of feelings overnight, you know." I sighed again and looked at him. "I guess what I'm getting at is that I'm not saying yes, but I'm not saying no, either. Maybe I'll do this again, or maybe not. I just need a lot of time to think about this, okay?"

He nodded. "No problem. Take all the time you need. We'll be around." He then stood up slowly and then when over to the nearby large window that was next to the kitchen. He peered outside through it and said, "Man, we're really booking. Makes you wonder how fast this train can go."

"They said it's one of the fastest trains in the world," I said.

"They definitely weren't kidding." He walked over to Randy and looked down at him for a few seconds. He then turned to me and said, "You know, I was thinking, maybe-"

That was all he got out before Randy, who somehow cut free of his ropes without us seeing, kicked his legs out and knocked Chameleon off his feet. Randy was quickly on top of him and locked his hands around his throat. Chameleon looked to be stunned and as a result he couldn't really fight back. If neither of us did something fast, Randy was going to choke him to death.

I couldn't quickly get up because of my leg, so I did the next best thing. I formed my aura and then launched myself at him when I was off the floor. I collided with him and sent us both into the wall, both of us hitting it with a loud crunching noise. We both fell down and I rolled away from him, being really careful about my right leg. I stopped, turned back, and was shocked to see that Randy was now coming for me with murder and hatred in his eyes. And that was when I did it.

Once again, time seemed to slow almost to a dead stop. I saw my right hand fly out, I saw the fireball come out of it, I saw that fireball race through the air, and then I saw it impact Randy squarely in the chest. It knocked him off his feet, but that wasn't all. The fireball set his suit on fire, and in moments he was fully engulfed in flames! He was screaming and rolling on the floor. I was literally so shocked, so horrified, that I was frozen on the spot and couldn't move and could think.

As if he had one last gasp, he was back up on his feet and came after me once again, still completely on fire. With a terrifying scream, I reacted once again in defense, this time with both hands. The two fireballs blasted him through the air, though the big window that Chameleon was looking out of earlier, and he instantly disappeared from sight. A huge swirl of wind was racing through the section, and there were a few tiny flames on the floor that were blown out by the wind, but I didn't notice any of it. I was again totally frozen, lost in my own horrified world. All I could see and hear was Randy on fire. It finally happened. I had just done the unthinkable, the very thing that terrified me so much that it caused me to make a vow that I kept for four years.

I had just killed a person by using my powers.

Chameleon was in front of me in seconds, but I didn't acknowledge him. It was like I saw him there, but yet didn't, if you know what I mean. I could feel him shaking me and hear him say something, but it still wasn't registering in my mind, I was that shut in. Eventually, he started to get through.

"Jess, say something! Please speak to me! Jess, come back!"

My eyes finally moved to look at him. My mouth opened to speak, but I couldn't get the words out. It took several tries before I was able to whisper in an incredibly shaky voice, "I…I…I-I k…kill…I killed him…"

He cupped my face with both hands and looked directly into my eyes. "Jess, listen to me very carefully. Are you listening? Nod if you're hearing me." It took a while, but I nodded a couple of times. "Okay, listen, Jess. It's not your fault. He came after you and you reacted in self-defense. It was either him or you. Everything that happened was his fault and his fault only. He paid the price for it. Remember, it's not your fault. Say it, it's not your fault."

"It…It's…not- It's not…It's not my fault, but…"

"No buts!" he said loudly. "It's not your fault! I want you to keep thinking and saying that, alright?"

I nodded, and said very slowly, almost mechanically. "It's not my fault."

He then gave me a hug. "Everything's going to be okay. I mean it, Jess. Everything's going to be fine. You didn't do anything wrong, you hear me? Nothing was your fault. You have to believe that. Are you a little better now?"

"Not really," I said quietly.

"You will, believe me. This is something you'll get over. It might not seem like it now, but you will. Just remember everything I told you."

I nodded and we stayed in that embrace for a while. It was almost impossible to believe, but I was actually starting to feel a little better. I was far from being completely better, but it was a start. I really had to thank Chameleon for talking to me. I didn't know how I would be right then if he hadn't said all those things.

I was just about to tell him that when Ultraviolet's voice came over the train's intercom. _"I need one of you up in the front right now."_

I didn't like the way she sounded, and I assumed neither did Chameleon. "Come on, let's go together."

He stood up and then helped me up on my own feet. With him supporting me, we slowly made our way towards the front. I was still in a stunned daze and didn't pay much attention to our surroundings. I couldn't help but go over Randy's death over and over inside my mind. It was an image that was going to stay with me for the rest of my life. How were my parents going to react to this? I was certain that Mom would understand as she had to kill a few people herself. Still, how was I going to get over this? I couldn't see myself doing that anytime soon.

At the same time, though, I was taking Chameleon's words almost straight to heart. It wasn't my fault, and I was starting to believe that. Randy was the one that came after me, wanting to kill me and had tried a couple of times before that. He had to have known what I was capable of but still did it anyway. I was thinking that he had underestimated me and paid the ultimate price for it as a result. Killing Randy was something that I was always going to hate having to do, but maybe, just maybe, I could see myself living with it. All I had to do was keep repeating to myself, _It wasn't my fault, it wasn't my fault._

We finally entered the front cab of the train, where we saw an open panel underneath the main controls and Ultraviolet halfway inside it. I was about to ask her what she was doing when I heard her swear, "Shit!"

She climbed out and stood up as she saw both of us standing there. "We have a serious problem on our hands," she told us.

"What kind of problem?" I asked.

She went up to the front controls and touched a few of them. She then slammed her fist down, obviously indicating that something was very wrong. "Dammit!" she said. "I don't know how he did it, but he took out the entire main control system of the train. All the backups are out, too."

"Um, what exactly does that mean?" Chameleon asked her.

Ultraviolet sighed heavily, then turned back around to face us again. "It means I can't stop this train, that's what. We have a runaway on our hands."


	28. Runaway Train

_Author's note: Hey folks! Look who's finally back with a new chapter. I know it's been nearly two years since the last update but unfortunate circumstances forced me to put my writing on hold. Okay, no more talk from me. Here's the next chapter. _

Chapter 28

Imagine that you had just finished doing the biggest thing you've ever done in your life. Imagine that even though you felt proud at what you've accomplished, you just wanted it to be over and done with. Now imagine that it didn't end and just continued on and on. How exactly would you feel?

You just imagined yourself in my place. As for my answer to that question, I didn't know whether to burst out in hysterical laughter or in tears. It just didn't seem fair at all. How could this still be happening? We stopped the missiles, killed the bad guy (by my hand, and I still felt guilty about it), and saved the city. By all rights, this should be over and we should be celebrating our victory. Instead, we were stuck on a train that was speeding out of control and headed towards who knows what kind of oblivion. God, was this _ever _going to end?

"You're kidding, right?" Chameleon asked in a voice that told me that he couldn't believe what was happening, either.

"You don't see me smiling and laughing, do you?" Ultraviolet said.

"Seriously, you can't stop this train?" I asked. "It doesn't have any brakes at all?"

"No," she replied. "I don't know how he did it, but he bypassed all the safety systems and disabled the braking system." She pressed a few more buttons on the dashboard before speaking again, though more to herself than to us. "This shouldn't be happening. The _MagSpeed_ is one of the most advanced passenger transportation systems in the world. It has layers upon layers of backup systems. A failure of this magnitude just isn't possible."

"Didn't they say the exact same thing about the _Titanic?" _Chameleon said.

"Not funny, Leon," Ultraviolet grumbled.

"Wasn't trying to be funny," he shot back.

I hobbled over to the dashboard and looked at the speed indicator. It said that we were going nearly three hundred miles per hour. Looking out of the windshield, I saw that the landscape was just racing by. It might've been beautiful to look at some other time, but at that moment it just illustrated how deadly serious this was. The track was going to end somewhere, and what happened after that most likely wasn't going to be pretty. The only two questions that I asked to myself were, how many pieces were we going to be in, and were we going to take anyone else with us.

"How much time do we have?" I asked.

Ultraviolet was silent for a few moments before she said, "Let's see. We should be getting close to the switch point to the main track. If we're lucky, we'll head in the direction of Centralia. That should buy us more time. If not, and we head towards Metroville, well, it's going to be ugly, to say the very least."

"How ugly?" Chameleon asked.

"The track dead ends at the main train terminal downtown. Portions of the track to Munichberg have yet to be installed. The station is going to be packed at this time. If I'm correct, we have about ten minutes to stop this train or hundreds are going to die."

"Ten minutes?" Chameleon said. "Is that going to be enough time?"

"It'll have to be," Ultraviolet told him.

"Does that radio work?" I asked, pointing to the nearby radio on the dashboard. "Maybe we can warn somebody that this train's out of control."

"It's worth a try," she said. She switched on the radio, turned the knobs, and spoke into the microphone. "Mayday, mayday, mayday. Does anyone copy on this frequency? This is Ultraviolet on board the _Magspeed. _The train is unresponsive to controls and is a runaway, repeat, a runaway. I estimate ten minutes until it impacts the terminal at high speed. I strongly urge immediate evacuation of the terminal at this time. Does, anyone read me, over?"

She clicked off the mike and we heard nothing but static. She turned the knobs again and repeated herself, "I repeat, this is Ultraviolet on board the _MagSpeed. _I am declaring a mayday. The train is not responding to controls and is a runaway. I am requesting immediate evacuation of the downtown Metroville train terminal. Does anyone copy on this channel?"

Once again, there was nothing but static on the line. She put the mike back down onto the dash. "Damn, it's no good. The radios must be out. It doesn't make sense. They should be working, unless Randall managed to disable them somehow."

My heart dropped at that. We were ten minutes away from crashing into a terminal filled with people and there seemed to be no way to warm them. Couldn't something go right in these last few minutes? We all needed a miracle.

"Where's your dad when we need him?" Chameleon asked Ultraviolet. "I bet he can stop this train just by standing in front of it, no problem."

"Retired," she told him, "and yes, he could stop this train, but the impact would kill both him and us. Remember, he's Mr. Incredible, not Mr. Invincible."

And then he said something that truly surprised me. "Perhaps, but at least all those people would be safe."

I turned to stare at him. I never thought I would hear him say something like that. But I knew it was true. We would be dead, but the innocent people in the terminal would still be alive with more than likely no idea of what was going on.

It was then that I stumbled on a revelation as I turned to look back out of the windshield. I truly wasn't afraid to die. I had a sense of calm about me that was almost surreal. I then asked myself a question.

Was this what it was truly like to be a super?

Maybe it took me all night and into the morning to finally ask that question. Why? Perhaps it was because I needed hard lessons to figure myself out. Perhaps I never took my mother's words there in her secret room last night to heart until now. Whatever it was, it seemed like the final part to me being a real super was complete. I had a feeling that my mother would be so proud of me right then.

I thought of my mother and how much I was starting to miss her already. I wished that she was on the train with us. I just knew she would know what to do. Was that just selfish thinking? Maybe, but it didn't stop me from thinking it. I then thought of how she was going to be saddened by my loss, but I knew she would understand it. It may take her time like it did when both of her parents were lost, but she would move on. As she told me in her message…

"In some cases, a super is expendable."

"What?" both Ultraviolet and Chameleon said together.

"Huh?" I didn't realize that I had spoken that out loud.

"What did you just say?" Chameleon asked me.

"I was thinking of what my mom told me in a message last night," I told him. "She said, 'In some cases, a super is expendable'. I don't think I realized what that meant until now."

"She's right," Ultraviolet said. "Supers must put innocent people's lives ahead of their own. If there was a way I could stop this train and it included having to sacrifice myself to do it, I would do so without hesitation. It you guys really want to be supers, then that's what you must be prepared to do at all times. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Chameleon and I said together.

"Good," she said. "It would be best to remember that if we survive this. We're not out of time yet, and there are some tricks I think I can still do to this dash." She ducked back into the open panel and said while she was inside it, "The phones on this train should still have access to the outside. Try them and dial 911. If they don't work, come back here and we'll figure something else out."

"Gotcha," Chameleon said and he and I left the front of the train together.

When we were out of the front, out of earshot of Ultraviolet, I asked Chameleon, "Do you really think we're going to make it?"

He was quiet for a few seconds, and then he said, "I don't know."

"Are you afraid of dying?" I asked.

"No," he replied.

"Me, neither," I said.

"The only thing I'm afraid of is taking out a lot of innocents with us if we do did today," he said, surprising me yet again.

"We won't," I said with conviction in my voice.

"Won't what? Won't kill a lot of people or won't die?"

"Both," I told him, although the word sounded weak when I said it. "Ultraviolet will find a way to stop this train. She has to. Supers always find a way."

"I hope you're right about that," he said, although he didn't sound convinced, either. "Come on, let's find those phones."

It only took us seconds after we finished our conversation to find the first phone. I picked it up and put it to my ear. I heard a dialtone. So far, so good. I dialed 911 and heard the number go through. For a moment, I thought that we were in business, but then, as though the phone was mocking me, I heard an automated voice say, _"I'm sorry. Your call couldn't be completed as dialed. Please hang up your telephone and try again."_

I couldn't believe what I heard. We couldn't even dial 911 on this train? I hung up the phone and tried again just like the voice said, but it was no good. The voice came back on again. I hung up the phone and shook my head.

"It's no good," I said. "We can't dial out on this phone. I keep getting a message."

"Let's try other phones on this train," Chameleon said. "One of them may work. I'll take the upper level and you stay here on the lower. We'll meet at the end. Call out if one of them does work."

"Okay," I said. "Good luck."

"You too, Jess," he said, and then climbed the steps to the upper level and disappeared from sight.

Alone now, I moved through the car and found another set of four phones at the other end. I picked up one of them and dialed. Once again I got the automated message. I tried the other three phones, and again had no success. I was beginning to suspect that all the phones on this train weren't working, but I had to keep trying. Countless lives were depending on it.

Like I suspected, I had no luck in the next car, or the car after that. However, when I got to the fourth car, I stopped. This was the car that I killed Randy in. Even though I urgently needed to continue checking the phones, I couldn't help myself. The strong feelings of what I was forced to do came rushing back, and I had to steady myself as it felt like the train was tilting. Then I realized the train really was swaying as it went into a turn at high speed. We must've gone over the switch and were now on the main track. We didn't have much time.

As I passed the blown out window where Randy went out to his fiery death, I stopped again and just stared at it. The gruesome scene just kept repeating itself inside my head, and I couldn't stop it. I closed my eyes and took several deep breaths.

"It wasn't my fault," I told myself. "It wasn't my fault."

I didn't know why, but I started moving toward it. The wind coming through the broken window was immense, whipping my hair around my head and threatening to rip my mask off my face. There was no way that I could stick my head out and look, not safely anyway.

It was then that I thought of something. Maybe I could form my aura, fly out through the window, and head towards Metroville to warm the people there. I could presumably fly a lot faster than this train could travel and could reach the city in just a few minutes. Maybe that could be out best option.

I actually started to form my aura, but immediately stopped. I didn't know why at first. People's lives were probably depending on me getting to the city in time. Then I realized what was keeping me there. I really didn't want to leave. It was selfish sounding, I know, but I didn't want to abandon Ultraviolet and Chameleon, not like this. They were my friends, and I figured that we should be together to the end, however that end would be. Besides, there was no guarantee that I would've been able to fly through that window safely anyway, not by how much that wind was blowing in.

Thinking about how much time that we didn't have, I moved away from the window and continued moving down the train. Just as I thought, the remaining phones didn't work. We seemed to be totally alone on this train, with no way of warning the outside of what was coming. Once again, wasn't anything going to go right?

When I reached the back of the train, Chameleon was already there waiting for me. He shook his head. "None of them worked," he told me.

"Oh well," I said. "It was worth a try."

"Yeah." He then entered the rear cab of the train. The wind was still whipping around the end of the train and entering through the broken windshield, but it wasn't nearly as fierce as the broken window in the fourth car.

"This cab is similar to the one up front," he said. "Maybe the radio works in this one. I'm gonna give it a try."

He turned on the radio. He moved the knobs and spoke into the mike. "Hello, is anyone there? My name is Chameleon. I'm stuck on the _MagSpeed _train with two other supers and we can't stop it. Can anybody read me, over?"

We once again heard nothing but static. He continued to turn the knobs and speak into the mike. At one point, he actually smacked the radio a couple of times with his hand. However, it appeared that this radio was just as dead as the one up front.

"So what do we do know?" he said.

"I don't know," I answered. "Pray, maybe."

"That's about all we can do," he said.

"We're not going to make it, are we?" I said in an almost sorrowful voice.

"I honestly don't know," he answered.

For about a full minute, we just quietly stood there together, gazing out the back of the train. I think we were both resigned to the fact that we were not going to make it after all. I thought of my mother once more, who was quite possibly my guiding light at becoming a super. I thought of my dad, who was an innocent pawn in some madman's schemes and how I was never going to tell him that I was a super to begin with. I thought of Allison, who was a true best friend and stuck it out with me in the worst of times. Lastly, I thought of Chameleon, who in our short time together became a real friend and partner, despite our many troubles. In fact, if this was another time and place, and we were out of danger, maybe we…

"_Leon, Jessica, I need both of you to come up front," _Ultraviolet's voice came over the intercom. _"I think I have a plan."_

With those words, hope burst inside my chest like an exploding sun. Ultraviolet had a plan. Maybe we were really going to get out of this situation after all.

Chameleon and I went forward through the train and to the front. I think that I had a smile on my face as we moved. When we got there, we saw her with her head buried in another open panel, working with wires and circuit boards. Looking out of the windshield, I could see the skyline of Metroville, gleaming in the morning sun. It was still pretty far away, but it seemed to be getting closer by the second. I don't think that I remembered seeing it so beautiful before. Perhaps it was because if whatever Ultraviolet had in mind didn't work, I was never going to see it again. Of course, I had to hear her out first before I went to that state of mind,

"Okay, I managed to get the radio and some systems working," she told us as she raised her head out of the open panel.

"That means we can warn the station, right?" Chameleon said.

"We can, but I have another idea," she told him.

She went over to the dashboard and pulled out a map. She opened it up on the dash and motioned for us to come over. When we got there, I saw that it was a map of Metroville. One of the dominating features was an easily noticeable black line on a section of the map. It took me a moment to figure out that it was the train track. We could see how it ran from ATI to Centralia and how it went through Metroville to Munichberg. However, I remembered Ultraviolet telling us that the track to Munichberg wasn't yet finished. What was she trying to show us?

"We're about here," she said, pointing to a section of the track on the map. "We have close to five minutes left to stop this train, and I think I know how to do it."

"How?" I asked.

"Here," she replied, pointing to a part of the track that went over the Metroville River. "This section of the track is on a bridge that goes over the river. It rises up in one section to allow boats to go underneath. If we can radio ahead to the bridge operator and have him raise the bridge, we can send the train into the river and prevent it from crashing into the downtown terminal."

I went over her plan in my mind. It sounded like a great idea. It we couldn't stop the train, then we could still prevent it from causing catastrophic damage and loss of life. However, if I remembered anything from school, hitting water above a certain speed was like hitting concrete. This meant we could still die.

"Great idea, but we still die," Chameleon said, giving voice to my thoughts.

"Not necessarily," she said. "Like I said, I managed to get some systems back up and that includes the braking system. However, there's a problem."

'_There always is', _I thought.

"What kind of problem," Chameleon asked.

"The braking system on half the train is completely out," she explained, "but they work on the rest of it. My plan is to separate this half of the train from the rest and send it into the river. The other half's brakes should come on and it should come to a complete stop."

"That's good," I said. "That means all three of us can escape, right?"

She was quiet for a moment, and then said, "There's a catch. To disconnect the cars, there must be people in both the cabs at the same time. Usually, the safety systems prevent the cars from being disconnected while the train is moving, but I was able to override that. A code must be punched into the computer for it to work. It's as simple as that."

For a split second, I didn't understand what she was taking about. Then, like a ton of bricks, it hit me what she was actually trying to say.

"That means one of us must stay here," I said softly.

"Exactly," she said, and before Chameleon or I could say anything else, she said, "There's no need to draw straws or anything like that. I'll stay aboard. I have the best chance at surviving the crash anyway, although I must admit the odds are still pretty low."

Even though she mentioned that she was ready to sacrifice herself for the greater good if the time came, it was still unbelievable to me. Then again, she had been a super longer than both of us combined and she knew all the risks involved. I didn't like it, but I also knew that she was right. There wasn't time to argue the point anyway.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Chameleon asked her.

"Yes," she replied without hesitation. "There's no time to debate this. We need to do this now if we want this to work. Besides, if the radio still doesn't work or the bridge operator doesn't answer, then all this is a moot point anyway."

We were quiet for a few seconds, apparently thinking things over, and then I said, "Okay, let's do this."

She nodded and then she spoke into the mike once more, "Metroville River bridge operator, this is Ultraviolet. Do you read me, over?"

For a few seconds, we once again heard nothing but static. My heart pounded loudly in my chest. The entire plan seemed to depend on the bridge operator being there. If he wasn't then all would seem to be lost.

There was then a loud squealing noise and then a young sounding male voice. _"Ultraviolet, is that really you? I can't believe it! I'm a huge fan of yours."_

"Great," she said. "Listen, we don't have much time. The _MagSpeed _is out of control. I need to you raise the bridge so the train goes into the river and prevents it from crashing into the downtown train terminal."

There was silence for a short moment and then, _"You're joking."_

"I wish I was, but I'm not. I need you to do it now."

"_But I can't raise the bridge without some kind of authorization. It's against regulation."_

I nearly burst out laughing at that, but Ultraviolet remained serious. "You want authorization? How's this, you either raise that bridge right now or hundreds of people are going to die. How would you like that on your conscience?"

"_You're serious, aren't you?" _the man said.

Ultraviolet looked exasperated. "I'm very damn serious."

Once again, there was a long silence before, _"Okay, raising the bridge now. I hope you're right about this. It'll mean my job if you're not."_

"You did the right thing," Ultraviolet told him. "Thank you. Ultraviolet signing off."

"What now?" I asked.

"You two head back to the rear cab," she told us. "Tell me when you're there. Then I'll tell you how to enter the code into the computer system."

"Okay," Chameleon said. "Anything else we should know?"

"Stay safe," she said. "Now go."

He nodded and we both started to leave. However, I stopped and turned back to her. I just couldn't leave her, not without saying something. This was probably the last time that I was going to see her alive. It was just something that I had to do.

"Violet?" I said.

"We don't have much time," she said with her back turned towards me.

"I know." I really had to force the words out. "I just wanted to say…thanks. Thank you, for everything you've done. We couldn't have done what we did without you."

She turned around to face me. A small smile formed on her lips and she said, "You're welcome."

I couldn't help myself. I closed the distance between us and hugged her tightly. Tears were threatening to fall from my eyes. She stayed motionless for a few seconds before she slowly returned my hug.

"Goodbye," I whispered. "Good luck."

"To all of us," she said. "I'm not dead yet. Go on now. You've done all you can. Now it's my turn."

It took long seconds for me to release her. I walked backwards for a few steps, my eyes never leaving hers. I burned this image of her into my brain, It she was going to die today, then I wanted to remember her for what she was; a truly heroic, selfless human being. At that moment, I think that I loved her as much as I did my own family, and losing her would be losing one of them.

After a long moment, I turned around and Chameleon and I moved through the train. I could swear that it was the longest walk that I've ever taken in my life. It was almost like a dream and I was walking through a haze. Eventually, we reached the back of the train once more. Chameleon searched the dashboard for the intercom. When he found it, he flipped the switch.

"Okay, we're here," he said.

Ultraviolet's voice came over the intercom. _"Okay. Look on the front dash. There's a large computer display that says 'MAIN TRAIN STATUS'."_

Chameleon and I looked on the dash. It was real easy to spot. "Here it is," I said.

"We found it," he said.

"_Good. On the right side of the screen, there's a bunch of letters. To the right of those, there are a series of buttons. Press the one that's next to the letters CDCMD."_

It took a moment to find what she was talking about. I pressed the button and the screen changed to a bright green box with sixteen blank spaces inside. The words 'ENTER CODE' was on top of it.

"Done," Chameleon said.

"_Enter exactly these letters and numbers on the keypad underneath the screen. ATI1-2R3Y-O98J-7735."_

She said the number and letter code slowly so that I could follow along. When I finished, I nodded and Chameleon said, "It's in."

"_Press ENTER on the keypad."_

I did and an alarm sounded. My heart skipped a beat.

"_Don't worry about the alarm," _Ultraviolet said. _"There should be a picture and a message on the screen. What do you see?"_

There was a picture of the train on the screen. Between the fourth and fifth cars, there were points that were blinking yellow. Those had to be the connection points. Above the picture, there was a message that said, 'COUPLINGS FOR LT4 AND LT5 ACCESSED. DO YOU WISH TO PROCEED?' Chameleon relayed all that we saw back to Ultraviolet.

"_Okay, we have to press the YES key at around the same time. This half of the train should disconnect from the other. We're going to lose the intercom when that happens. Once that's done, hit the emergency brake button on the dash and that half of the train should stop. On the count of three, okay?"_

I saw the YES button on the keypad and moved my hand towards it. However, my hand stopped with my index finger hovering about an inch above it. I don't think I could've moved my hand that final distance to touch it. Pressing that button meant sending Ultraviolet to her possible death. I wasn't physically or emotionally able to do such an act.

Chameleon must've seen or sensed my hesitation, because he placed his right hand over my own. I turned to him and gave him a sad smile.

"Thank you," I whispered and he nodded.

Ultraviolet came back on and I could've sworn that she sounded a little sad. _"Ready? One…two…three."_

Together, Chameleon and I pressed the button. There were a series of beeping noises that came from the screen. From behind us, there came several clicking and banging noises. We couldn't see or feel what was happening, but I knew that we were successful and the train was separating in half. Chameleon then quickly hit the emergency brake and I could feel the train sway a little as it was slowing down. The speed indicator confirmed that as the speed fell below three hundred miles per hour and was going down rapidly.

"We're slowing," Chameleon said.

I should've felt happy. One part of Ultraviolet's plan had worked and Chameleon and I were now safe. But all that I felt was sorrow and regret. Ultraviolet herself was still trapped on the other speeding half of the train, hurtling towards the Metroville River and the open bridge. Who knew what would happen to her once the train impacted the water. I felt the need to do something, anything. I didn't know exactly what, but I had to do it. Without another word, I turned around and limped down the train as fast as I could.

"Jess. Where are you going?" Chameleon asked.

I didn't answer him. I continued to move quickly, the pain shooting up my leg but I ignored it. It was like I was in a trance and had only one goal, one mindset. I was so consumed by that unusual need that I went through the door of the last car of the train and nearly fell off as there wasn't another car there anymore. The train was still moving, but it was considerably slower than before. I couldn't even see the front half of the train as it had sped around a corner and disappeared out of sight.

I started to form my aura, but stopped when I felt a hand on my shoulder. Surprised out of my trance, I spun around to see Chameleon standing there beside me with a very concerned look on his face.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

What was I doing? I wasn't sure myself. What was I hoping to accomplish? Did I think that I could get to the other half of the speeding train in the hope of saving Ultraviolet before it plunged off the end of the bridge and into the river? Could I even do that to begin with? There was no real answer to those questions.

What eventually came out of my mouth was, "I have to do this. I have to see."

He was quiet for a while, seemingly thinking it over. He then nodded and said, "Go on. I'll catch up."

"Thank you," I said.

He stood back as I formed my aura. Once I was levitating off the floor, I flew out of the open door and into the sky. I followed the track and flew as fast as I could in the hope of what? Trying to save Ultraviolet? Observing the crash? I still didn't know. All I knew was that I just had to get there.

It took me about a minute to spot the train, and I quickly saw that it would be impossible to attempt any kind of rescue. It was about thirty seconds from the bridge, which I could also see. The span was open, and the train was speeding right towards it.

Those final thirty seconds slowed down to an eternity. From my bird's eye view, all I could do was watch and say a quick prayer for Ultraviolet. Then I watched in amazement and awe as the train came up to the end of the bridge and seemed to hang in the air in slow motion as it went off. Then it descended down into the river and impacted with a colossal splash. The train seemed to explode from the crash, pieces of all sizes going every which way. Then, all was eerily quiet and still.

For a long minute, I just hovered there in the sky, not believing what I had just seen. That had to have been the most spectacular and violent thing that I ever saw in my life. Then, snapping out of it, I flew down towards the site, hoping to see a miracle, but also knowing that there was no way the Ultraviolet could've survived such a crash.


End file.
